353 quotes
Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold.
Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
One can survive everything nowadays except death.
Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young (1894)
I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lip.
Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror.
Intentions (1891)
For to disagree with three-fourths of the British public on all points is one of the first elements of sanity, one of the deepest consolations in all moments of spiritual doubt.
The English Renaissance of Art (1882)
When a man does exactly what a woman expects him to do she doesn't think much of him. One should always do what a woman doesn't expect, just as one should say what she doesn't understand.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
The work of art is to dominate the spectator: the spectator is not to dominate the work of art.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune ... to lose both seems like carelessness.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel that no one else has the right to blame us.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
The Book of Life begins with a man and a woman in a garden.
It ends with Revelations.
A Woman of No Importance (1893)
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
De Profundis (1897)
Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.
The Critic as Artist (1891)
“I want to be good. I can’t bear the idea of my soul being hideous.”
“A very charming artistic basis for ethics, Dorian! I congratulate you on it.”
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.
The thoroughly well-informed man—that is the modern ideal. And the mind of the thoroughly well-informed man is a dreadful thing. It is like a bric-à-brac shop, all monsters and dust, with everything priced above its proper value.
Ah! That must be Aunt Augusta. Only relatives, or creditors, ever ring in that Wagnerian manner.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
I have my beauty,—you your Art—
Nay, do not start:
One world was not enough for two
Like me and you.
Her Voice; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)
The things people say of a man do not alter a man. He is what he is. Public opinion is of no value whatsoever.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.
Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young (1894)
The only way to atone for being occasionally a little over-dressed is by being always absolutely over-educated.
Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young (1894)