The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Algernon, Act 1.
Lord Illingworth: The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life. Mrs. Allonby: And the body is born young and grows old. That is life’s tragedy. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Act 1.
One should always be a little improbable. – Oscar Wilde Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young
What is interesting about people in good Society is the mask that each one of them wears, not the reality that lies behind the mask. – Oscar Wilde The Decay of Lying
Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace. – Oscar Wilde The Canterville Ghost
I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people don’t talk politics. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Lord Goring, Act 1.
It’s a curious thing…about the game of marriage – a game, by the way, that is going out of fashion – the wives hold all the honours, and invariably lose the odd trick. – Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lord Darlington, Act 1.
Those whom the gods love grow young. – Oscar Wilde A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated
We in the House of Lords are never in touch with public opinion. That makes us a civilised body. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Lord Illingworth, Act 1.
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others. – Oscar Wilde Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young
In modern life nothing produces such an effect as a good platitude. It makes the whole world kin. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Mrs. Cheveley, Act 1.
I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Algernon, Act 1.
History never repeats itself. The historians repeat each other. There is a wide difference. – Oscar Wilde
‘Know thyself’ was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, ‘Be thyself’ shall be written. – Oscar Wilde The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Lady Hunstanton: But do you believe all that is written in the newspapers? Lord Illingworth: I do. Nowadays it is only the unreadable that occurs. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Act 1.
Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence. – Oscar Wilde
Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Algernon, Act 1.
Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Mrs. Cheveley, Act 1.
I love hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures. I often have long conversations with myself. – Oscar Wilde The Remarkable Rocket
In Gold Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the marketplace. It may not be purchased of the merchants, nor can it be weighed out in the balance for gold. – Oscar Wilde The Nightingale and the Rose
Plain women are always jealous of their husbands, beautiful women never are! – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Mrs. Allonby, Act 1.
A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. – Oscar Wilde The Critic as Artist
Misfortunes one can endure – they come from outside, they are accidents. But to suffer for one’s own faults – ah! – there is the sting of life. – Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lord Windermere, Act 1.
Private information is practically the source of every large modern fortune. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Sir Robert Chiltern, Act 1.