Harry spends his days in saying what is incredible and his evenings in doing what is improbable. Just the sort of life I would like to lead. But still I don’t think I would go to Harry if I were in trouble. I would sooner go to you, Basil.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 9. Dorian loves Lord Henry’s verbal fluency and philosophizing, but Basil is his special friend. Or so he claims. The irony in Dorian’s statement that he would turn to Basil in times of trouble will become very apparent as the novel progresses. For he grows to hate Basil and extinguishes the life of his friend.