Oscar Wilde

The only form of fiction in which real characters do not seem out of place is history. In novels they are detestable.

Rich bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others.

The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test Reality we must see it on the tight-rope.

To know anything about oneself one must know all about others.

If a friend of mine gave a feast, and did not invite me to it, I should not mind a bit. But if a friend of mine had a sorrow and refused to allow me to share it, I should feel it most bitterly.

An acquaintance that begins with a compliment is sure to develop into a real friendship.

Scepticism is the beginning of Faith.

In England ... education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and would probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.

I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.

It is very vulgar to talk about one's own business. Only people like stockbrokers do that, and then only at dinner parties.

Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.

When a love comes to an end, weaklings cry, efficient ones instantly find another love, and the wise already have one in reserve.

Be yourself; everyone else is taken.

Alone, and without any reference to his neighbours, without any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thing; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all.

Science is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon eternal truths. Art is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon things beautiful and immortal and ever-changing.

I may have said the same thing before... but my explanation, I am sure, will always be different.

Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.

We call ours a utilitarian age, and we do not know the uses of any single thing. We have forgotten that water can cleanse, that fire can purify, and that the Earth is mother to us all.

When one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other people's time, not one's own.

Be warned in time, James, and remain, as I do, incomprehensible: to be great is to be misunderstood.

Oh, why will parents always appear at the wrong time? Some extraordinary mistake in nature, I suppose.

If we men married the women we deserved, we should have a very bad time of it.

My experience is that as soon as people are old enough to know better, they don't know anything at all.

I delight in men over seventy. They always offer one the devotion of a lifetime.

Youth! There is nothing like youth. The middle-aged are mortgaged to Life. The old are in Life's lumber-room. But youth is the Lord of Life. Youth has a kingdom waiting for it. Every one is born a king, and most people die in exile.

Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!

Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.

Nothing is so aggravating as calmness. There is something positively brutal about the good temper of most modern men.

It is always worth while asking a question, though it is not always worth while answering one.

You are Beautiful when you are happy