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"I have nothing to declare except my genius."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Attributed in Oscar Wilde, ch. 6, Richard Ellman (1987).
Remark at the New York Customs, Jan. 3, 1882, though there is no contemporary evidence for it. |
"For an artist to marry his model is as fatal as for a gourmet to marry his cook: the one gets no sittings, and the other gets no dinners."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. repr. In Aristotle at Afternoon Tea: The Rare Oscar Wilde (1991). "London Models," English Illustrated Magazine (London, Jan. 1889). |
"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Miss Prism, in The Importance of Being Earnest, act 2 (1895).
Speaking of her own novel. |
"How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?"
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. repr. In Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, ed. J.B. Foreman (1966). The Ballad of Reading Gaol, pt. 5, st. 14 (1898). |
"Lord Illingworth: All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy.
Mrs. Allonby: No man does. That is his."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. A Woman of No Importance, act 2 (1893).
This aphorism was also spoken by Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, act 1 (1895). |
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, ch. 1 (1891). |
"By persistently remaining single, a man converts himself into a permanent public temptation. Men should be more careful."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Miss Prism, in The Importance of Being Earnest, act 2. |
"I know not whether Laws be right
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who live in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. repr. In Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, ed. J.B. Foreman (1966). The Ballad of Reading Gaol, pt. 5, st. 1 (1898). |
"The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play. If they know nothing of victory, they are at least spared the knowledge of defeat."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Basil Hallward, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 1 (1891). |
"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Lord Darlington, in Lady Windermere's Fan, act 1 (1893). |
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Oscar Wilde
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