Oscar Wilde

The only proper intoxication is conversation.

Let me be dressed as I will, yet flies worms and flowers exceed me still.

I don't mind plain women being puritans. It is the only excuse they have for being plain.

He was a hero to his valet, who bullied him, and a terror to most of his relations, whom he bullied in turn. Only England could have produced him, and he always said that the country was going to the dogs. His principles were out of date, but there was a good deal to be said for his prejudices.

In art, the public accept what has been, because they cannot alter it, not because they appreciate it. They swallow their classics whole, and never taste them.

It is in the brain that the poppy is red, that the apple is odorous, that the skylark sings.

The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life.

As for the virtuous poor, one can pity them of course, but one cannot possibly admire them.

As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg

In going to America one learns that poverty is not a necessary accompaniment to civilization.

As for the virtuous poor, one can pity them, of course, but one cannot possibly admire them. They have made private terms with the enemy, and sold their birthright for very bad pottage. They must also be extraordinarily stupid.

The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. The error of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The result of his error was the French Revolution. It was an admirable result.

Cultivated leisure is the aim of man.

Absolute catholicity of taste is not without its dangers. It is only an auctioneer who should admire all schools of art.

No work of art ever puts forward views. Views belong to people who are not artists.

Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and his environment.

Flowers are as common in the country as people are in London.

To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love.

A woman will flirt with anybody in the world as long as other people are looking on.

Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning and Shame sits with us at night.

The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it.

The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.

The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret.

What is termed Sin is an essential element of progress. Without it the world would stagnate, or grow old, or become colorless. By its curiosity Sin increases the experience of the race. Through its intensified assertion of individualism it saves us from monotony of type. In its rejection of the current notions about morality, it is one with the higher ethics.

One should never listen. To listen is a sign of indifference to one's hearers.

He knew the precise psychological moment when to say nothing.

It is much more easy to have sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy with thought.

There is something very morbid about modern sympathy with pain.

Rugby is a game for barbarians played by gentlemen. Football is a game for gentlemen played by barbarians.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.