One can always be kind to people about whom one cares nothing.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 8. The prince of paradoxes Lord Henry provides us with another wonderful witty gem, which on the surface appears contradictory, but happens to be true. People are usually polite to strangers, and meaner to those they really care about. Henry is speaking in the aftermath of Sibyl’s death, implying that if Dorian didn’t care about her he would have been nice to her.