The poet is the supreme artist, for he is the master of colour and of form, and the real musician besides, and is lord over all life and all arts. – Oscar Wilde Mr. Whistler’s Ten O’Clock
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Lord Illingworth, Act 2.
There is nothing to my mind more coarse in conception and more vulgar in execution than modern jewellery. – Oscar Wilde House Decoration
Charming ball it has been! Quite reminds me of old days. And I see that there are just as many fools in society as there used to be. So pleased to find that nothing has altered! – Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere’s Fan, Mrs. Erlynne, Act 2.
To be good, according to the vulgar standard of goodness, is obviously quite easy. It merely requires a certain amount of sordid terror, a certain lack of imaginative thought, and a certain low passion for middle-class respectability. – Oscar Wilde The Critic as Artist
A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. – Oscar Wilde The Soul of Man Under Socialism
I wouldn’t marry a man with a future before him for anything under the sun. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Mabel Chiltern, Act 2.
An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young. – Oscar Wilde Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer. – Oscar Wilde A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated
Her mother is perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Jack, Act 1.
There is no reason why a man should show his life to the world. The world does not understand things. – Oscar Wilde De Profundis
I am afraid in England we have too many artificial social barriers. We don’t see as much as we should of the middle and lower classes. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Lady Hunstanton, Act 2.
Be warned in time, James; and remain, as I do, incomprehensible: to be great is to be misunderstood. – Oscar Wilde Letter to James Whistler
It is well for his peace that the saint goes to his martyrdom. He is spared the sight of the horror of his harvest. – Oscar Wilde The Critic as Artist
The Rhine is of course tedious, the vineyards are formal and dull, and as far as I can judge, the inhabitants of Germany are American. – Oscar Wilde Letter to Robert Ross
Those straw-coloured women have dreadful tempers. – Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere’s Fan, Mrs. Erlynne, Act 2.
The only way to atone for being occasionally a little over-dressed is by being always absolutely over-educated. – Oscar Wilde Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young
As a rule, I think they are quite impossible. Geniuses talk so much, don’t they Such a bad habit! And they are always thinking about themselves, when I want them to be thinking about me. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Mabel Chiltern, Act 2.
We are sorry too to find an English dramatic critic misquoting Shakespeare, as we had always been of the opinion that this was a privilege reserved specially for our English actors. – Oscar Wilde A Cheap Edition of a Great Man, referring to drama critic Joseph Knight.
I love hearing my relations abused. It is the only thing that makes me put up with them at all. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Algernon, Act 1.
How clever you are, my dear! You never mean a single word you say. – Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance, Lady Hunstanton to Mrs. Allonby, Act 2.
They have degraded the invisible arts into the obvious arts, and the one thing not worth looking at is the obvious. – Oscar Wilde The Critic as Artist
As for borrowing Mr. Whistler’s ideas about Art, the only thoroughly original ideas I have ever heard him express have had reference to his own superiority as a painter over painters greater than himself. – Oscar Wilde On artist James Whistler
People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live under. To this question there is only one answer. The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. – Oscar Wilde The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Nothing is as dangerous as being too modern. One is apt to grow old-fashioned quite suddenly. – Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband, Lady Markby, Act 2.
The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic. – Oscar Wilde Art and Morality: A Defence of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’
I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left. – Oscar Wilde The Importance of being Earnest, Jack, Act 1.