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Oscar Wilde Quotes - Page 44

All Quotes Achievement Acting Affection Age Aging Ambition Anger Appearance Appreciation Arguing Art Atheism Atmosphere Attitude Authority Beauty Beer Being Happy Being Real Being Single Being Yourself Belief Betrayal Blame Break Up Business Censorship Change Chaos Character Charity Children Christ Church College Common Sense Community Conformity Conscience Consciousness Cooking Country Courage Creativity Crime Criticism Critics Culture Curiosity Death Deception Defeat Desire Destiny Dignity Disappointment Doubt Drama Drinking Drunkenness Duty Dying Earth Eating Education Environment Ethics Evil Exercise Failing Failure Faith Falling In Love Family Fashion Fear Feelings Fidelity Fighting Flirting Food Forgiveness Friends Friendship Funny Future Genius Giving Gold Goodness Gossip Graduation Gratitude Greatness Greek Grief Growing Old Growth Happiness Hard Work Harmony Hate Hatred Heart Heartbreak Heaven Hell Hilarious History Home Honesty Hope Horror House Human Nature Humanity Hurt Husband Hypocrisy Ignorance Imagination Imitation Impulse Individualism Individuality Innocence Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Integrity Intelligence Irony Journalism Joy Judgement Judging Kissing Knowledge Language Laughter Leadership Learning Liars Liberty Life Life And Love Listening Literature Live Life Logic Loss Lost Love Love Love Life Luck Lust Lying Madness Mankind Manners Marriage Mask Maturity Mediocrity Memories Moderation Money Moon Morality Morning Motivational Mourning Music Nature Oblivion Opportunity Optimism Pain Passion Past Peace Perception Perfection Personality Perspective Pessimism Philosophy Pleasure Poetry Positive Poverty Prayer Prejudice Progress Purpose Quality Rage Reading Reality Rebellion Regret Rejection Religion Reputation Respect Risk Romance Romantic Love Romanticism Running Sacrifice Sad Sadness Sarcasm School Science Selfishness Silence Simplicity Sin Sincerity Sleep Society Solitude Sorrow Soul Spring Struggle Study Stupidity Style Success Suffering Summer Survival Sympathy Talent Tea Teaching Temptation Terror Theatre Time Tragedy Train Travel Truth Ugliness Understanding Utopia Values Virtue Vision Waiting Wall War Water Weakness Wife Wine Winning Winter Wisdom Wit Work Worship Writing Yoga Youth

Is it thy will that I should wax and wane, Barter my cloth of gold for hodden grey, And at thy pleasure weave that web of pain Whose brightest threads are each a wasted day?

Is it thy will that I should wax and wane, Barter my cloth of gold for hodden grey, And at thy pleasure weave that web of pain Whose brightest threads are each a wasted day?

Sad, Pain, Gold

Oscar Wilde (2007). “The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde”, p.847, Wordsworth Editions

It was a fatal day when the public discovered that the pen is mightier than the paving-stone, and can be made as offensive as the brickbat. They at once sought for the journalist, found him, developed him, and made him their industrious and well-paid servant. It is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakes.

Stones, Sake, Journalism

Oscar Wilde (1997). “Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: The Plays, the Poems, the Stories and the Essays Including De Profundis”, p.1056, Wordsworth Editions

At every single moment of one's life one is what one is going to be no less than what one has been.

Single Mom, Destiny, Moments

Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson, Ian Small (2000). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: De profundis, "Epistola : in carcere et vinculis"”, p.109, Oxford University Press on Demand

It is love, and not German philosophy, that is the true explanation of the world, whatever may be the explanation of the next.

Life, Philosophy, World

Oscar Wilde (2012). “The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde”, p.101, Courier Corporation

He had that curious love of green, which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle artistic temperament, and in nations is said to denote a laxity, if not a decadence of morals.

Love, Color, Green

Oscar Wilde (1997). “Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: The Plays, the Poems, the Stories and the Essays Including De Profundis”, p.950, Wordsworth Editions

Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the marketplace. It may not be purchased of the merchants, for can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.

Love Is, Balance, Gold

Oscar wilde (1943). “The Happy Prince and Other Tales (Illustrated)”, p.14, LCI

Every woman becomes their mother. That's their tragedy. And no man becomes his. That's his tragedy.

Mother, Men, Tragedy

Artists, like the Greek gods, are only revealed to one another.

Art, Philosophy, History

Oscar Wilde (2010). “Oscar Wilde in America: The Interviews”, p.107, University of Illinois Press

Nothing is so dangerous as being too modern; one is apt to grow old fashioned quite suddenly.

Modern, Dangerous, Old Fashioned

1895 Lord Mark by. An Ideal Husband, act 2.

Why was I born with such contemporaries?

Sarcastic, Book, Beer

It is only through Art and through Art only that we can realize our perfection; Through Art and art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence.

Art, Fear, Perfection

Oscar Wilde (1969). “The Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde”, p.380, University of Chicago Press

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.

Funny, Change, Sarcastic

The Importance of Being Earnest act 2 (1895)

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

Art, Mirrors, Diversity

Oscar Wilde (2015). “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, p.6, First Avenue Editions

Do you really keep a diary? I'd give anything to look at it. May I? Oh, no. You see, it is simply a very young girl's record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication. When it appears in volume form I hope you will order a copy.

Girl, Order, Giving

Oscar Wilde (2008). “The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Lady Windermere's Fan; Salome; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; The Importance of Being Earnest”, p.282, OUP Oxford

I am sick of women who love one. Women who hate one are much more interesting.

Love, Hate, Sick

Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson, Joseph Bristow, Ian Small (2000). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray : the 1890 and 1891 texts”, p.328, Oxford University Press on Demand

But she is happiest alone. She is happiest alone.

Oscar Wilde, Peter Raby (2008). “The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Lady Windermere's Fan; Salome; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; The Importance of Being Earnest”, p.123, Oxford Paperbacks

I am too fond of reading books to care to write them.

Book, Reading, Writing

Oscar Wilde (2007). “The Picture of Dorian Gray and Three Stories”, p.45, Penguin

There is nothing that art cannot express.

Art

Oscar Wilde (2007). “The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde”, p.11, Wordsworth Editions

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.

Education, Ignorance, Squares

1895 Lady Bracknell. The Importance of Being Earnest, act 1.

And now, I am dying beyond my means. (Said while sipping champagne on his deathbed.)

Death, Mean, Dying

In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.

Luck, Style, Matter

Oscar Wilde (2016). “Aphorisms”, p.14, Oscar Wilde

God and other artists are always a little obscure.

Art, Artist, Littles

Oscar Wilde, Harford Montgomery Hyde (1982). “The annotated Oscar Wilde: poems, fiction, plays, lectures, essays, and letters”, Clarkson Potter

The youth of America is their oldest tradition. It has been going on now for three hundred years.

Funny, Sarcastic, Years

'A Woman of No Importance' (1893) act 1

A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection.

Beautiful, Art, Giving

Oscar Wilde, Isobel Murray (2008). “Oscar Wilde - The Major Works”, p.570, Oxford University Press

Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.

Funny, Family, Father

Oscar Wilde (2004). “The Best of Oscar Wilde: Selected Plays and Writings”, p.233, Penguin

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