“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
O_L1RU1
@O_L1RU1, member from March 5, 2023“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“Experience, the name men give to their mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mr. Dumby, Act III. <br class="br">Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880) <br class="br">Variant: Experience was of no ethical value. It was merely the name men gave to their mistakes. <br class="br">Variant: Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. <br class="br">Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray <br class="br">Context: Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. [First used by Wilde in Vera; or, The Nihilists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera;_or,_The_Nihilists. ]
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
No known source in Oscar Wilde's works. Earliest known example of a similar quote comes from a 2001 usenet post https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=alt.atheism/ZadPWBw-wew/G_3tx370wpoJ (not attributed to Wilde) <br class="br">Attributed to Wilde on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/15736-i-don-t-want-to-go-to-heaven-none-of-my?page=83 some time on or before January 2008. <br class="br">Bears some resemblance to Machiavelli's deathbed dream https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli#Disputed. <br class="br">Disputed
“Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”
Oscar Wilde book Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories
Source: Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories
“Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Variant: A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
Source: The Critic as Artist (1891), Part II
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan
Lord Darlington, Act III
Source: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Source: The Happy Prince and Other Stories
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Variant: Always forgive your enemies — nothing annoys them so much.
“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Source: The Duchess of Padua
“The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet