Wide World of Quotes > Oscar Wilde Quotes


Oscar Wilde
Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet
(1854-1900)



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The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.
-- Lady Windermere's Fan (1891)

A man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
-- Oscar Wilde giving his definition of a cynic, in: Lady Windermere's Fan (1891)

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.
-- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
-- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
-- "The Soul of Man under Socialism", Fortnightly Review (1891)

Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.
-- "The Decay of Lying", Intentions (1891)

Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.
-- A Woman of No Importance (1893)

The truth is rarely pure, and never simple.
-- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.
-- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
-- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)


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The selection of the above quotes and the writing of the accompanying notes was performed by the author David Paul Wagner.

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