W. Somerset Maugham

The crown of literature is poetry.

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.

It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent.

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation.

Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.