Oscar Wilde

Writer

Oscar Wilde was a renowned Irish playwright and poet, celebrated for his sharp wit and critiques of Victorian society, particularly in works like 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.'

Born
October 16, 1854
Died
November 30, 1900
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1.9K
Rank
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Oscar Wilde quotes (page 86 of 93)

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"She has form," he said to himself, as he walked away through the grove - "that cannot be denied to her; but has she got feeling? I am afraid not. In fact, she is like most artists; she is all style, without any sincerity. She would not sacrifice herself for others. She thinks merely of music, and everybody knows that arts are selfish. Still, it must be admitted that she has some beautiful notes in her voice. What a pity it is that they do not mean anything, or do any practical good."

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"LORD ILLINGWORTH What do you think she'd do if I kissed her? MRS ALLONBY Either marry you, or strike you across the face with her glove. What would you do if she struck you across the face with her glove? LORD ILLINGWORTH Fall in love with her, probably."

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"I will not bare my soul to their shallow prying eyes. My heart shall never be put under their microscope."

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"A man's life is of more value than a woman's. It has larger issues, wider scope, greater ambitions. Our lives revolve in curves of emotions. It is upon lines of intellect that a man's life progresses. I have just learnt this, and much else with it, from Lord Goring. And I will not spoil your life for you, nor see you spoil it as a sacrifice to me, a useless sacrifice."

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"My writing has gone to bits - like my character. I am simply a self-conscious nerve in pain."

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"The weather is entrancing, but in my heart there is no sun."

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"I asked the question for the best reason possible, for the only reason, indeed, that excuses anyone for asking any question - simple curiosity."

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"There is something very morbid about modern sympathy with pain."

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"It is a pity to make a mystery out of what should most easily be understood. There is nothing occult about the thought that all things maybe made well or made ill. A work of art is a well-made thing - that is all. It may be a well-made statue of a well-made chair or a well-made book. Art is not a special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself that is good. Most simply and generally, Art may be thought of as "The Well Doing of What Needs Doing.""

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"If you meet at dinner a man who has spent his life in educating himself - a rare type in our time ... you rise from table richer, and conscious that a high ideal has for a moment touched and sanctified your days. But Oh! my dear Ernest, to sit next to a man who has spent his life in trying to educate others! What a dreadful experience that is!"

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

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

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"Lo! with a little rod I did but touch the honey of romance — And must I lose a soul's inheritance?"

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"There is nothing that stirs in the whole world of thought to which sorrow does not vibrate in terrible and exquisite pulsation."

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"Perhaps in nearly every joy, as certainly in every pleasure, cruelty has its place."

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