xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“Lord Illingworth: Women have become too brilliant. Nothing spoils a romance so much as a sense of humour in the woman.
Mrs. Allonby: Or the want of it in the man.”

Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance

Act I http://books.google.com/books?id=RHkWAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Women+have+become+too+brilliant+Nothing+spoils+a+romance+so+much+as+a+sense+of+humour+in+the+woman%22+%22or+the+want+of+it+in+the+man%22&pg=PA34#v=onepage <br class="br">A Woman of No Importance (1893)

“As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“We are specially designed to appeal to the sense of humour.”

Oscar Wilde book De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

“When one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other people's time, not one's own.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act IV
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“There are as many perfections as there are imperfect men. And while to the claims of charity a man may yield and yet be free, to the claims of conformity no man may yield and remain free at all.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“Only good questions deserve good answers.”

Oscar Wilde book De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

“However, it is always nice to be expected, and not to arrive.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act III
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone to whom one has just been introduced is almost unbearable.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Cecily, Act II
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

“Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life. Mothers are different. Mothers are darlings.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act IV
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“The one thing that the public dislike is novelty. Any attempt to extend the subject matter of art is extremely distasteful to the public; and yet the vitality and progress of art depend in a large measure on the continual extension of subject-matter. The public dislike novelty because they are afraid of it. It represents to them a mode of Individualism, an assertion on the part of the artist that he selects his own subject, and treats it as he chooses.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“Meredith is a prose Browning, and so is Browning. He used poetry as a medium for writing in prose.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

The Critic as Artist (1891), Part I

“The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated (1894)

“They are always asking a writer why he does not write like somebody else, or a painter why he does not paint like somebody else, quite oblivious of the fact that if either of them did anything of the kind he would cease to be an artist.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“A pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

Similar quotes are found, unattributed, from as early as 1899 https://books.google.com/books?id=lC81AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PA32&dq=%22two+evils%22+both+pessimist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIuveP5uz0yAIVBVqICh0GRQQJ#v=onepage&q=%22two%20evils%22%20both%20pessimist&f=false. First clear attribution to Wilde was not until 1977 https://books.google.com/books?id=eOcWAQAAMAAJ&q=oscar+wilde+%22two+evils%22&dq=oscar+wilde+%22two+evils%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCWoVChMIjMLEuO30yAIVBpSICh0c4Qi9 <br class="br">Disputed

“For what man has sought for is, indeed, neither pain nor pleasure, but simply Life. Man has sought to live intensely, fully, perfectly. When he can do so without exercising restraint on others, or suffering it ever, and his activities are all pleasurable to him, he will be saner, healthier, more civilised, more himself. Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and his environment.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“The only link between Literature and the Drama left to us in England at the present moment is the bill of the play.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated (1894)

“The fact is, that civilisation requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)