More quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

"Impropriety is the soul of wit."
"The highest activities of consciousness have their origins in physical occurrences of the brain just as the loveliest melodies are not too sublime to be expressed by notes."
"Only a mediocre person is always at his best."
"The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love."
"The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind."