xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“Kelvil: May I ask, Lord Illingworth, if you regard the House of Lords as a better institution than the House of Commons?
Lord Illingworth: A much better institution of course. We in the House of Lords are never in touch with public opinion. That makes us a civilised body.”

Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance

Act I
A Woman of No Importance (1893)

“The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison-air:
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there”

Oscar Wilde book The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Pt. V, st. 30
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
Context: The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison-air:
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there:
Pale Anguish keeps the heavy gate,
And the Warder is Despair.

“A thing is, according to the mode in which one looks at it.”

Oscar Wilde book De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

“Musical people are so absurdly unreasonable. They always want one to be perfectly dumb a the very moment when one is longing to be absolutely deaf.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Mabel Chiltern, Act II
An Ideal Husband (1895)

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

Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance

Lord Illingworth, Act I
A Woman of No Importance (1893)

“It is always the unreadable that occurs.”

Oscar Wilde book The Decay of Lying

The Decay of Lying (1889)

“I am but too conscious of the fact that we are born in an age when only the dull are treated seriously, and I live in terror of not being misunderstood.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

The Critic as Artist (1891), Part I

“Even the disciple has his uses. He stands behind one's throne, and at the moment of one's triumph whispers in one's ear that, after all, one is immortal.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

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

“If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.”

Oscar Wilde book Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young

Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young (1894)

“Fool, nothing is impossible in Russia but reform.”

Oscar Wilde Vera; or, The Nihilists

Michael, Act I
Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)

“I am always astonishing myself. It is the only thing that makes life worth living.”

Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance

Lord Illingworth, Act III
A Woman of No Importance (1893)

“The chief advantage that would result from the establishment of Socialism is, undoubtedly, the fact that Socialism would relieve us from that sordid necessity of living for others which, in the present condition of things, presses so hardly upon almost everybody. In fact, scarcely any one at all escapes.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. Its beauty comes from the fact that the author is what he is. It has nothing to do with the fact that other people want what they want. Indeed, the moment that an artist takes notice of what other people want, and tries to supply the demand, he ceases to be an artist, and becomes a dull or an amusing craftsman, an honest or a dishonest tradesman. He has no further claim to be considered as an artist.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“Heaven is a despotism. I shall be at home there.”

Oscar Wilde Vera; or, The Nihilists

Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)

“Now don't stir. I'll be back in five minutes. And don't fall into any temptations while I am away.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Miss Mabel Chiltern to Lord Goring, just after accepting his proposal, Act IV
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them?”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Algernon, Act I
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

“Women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Mrs. Cheveley, Act III
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.”

Oscar Wilde book The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Pt. V, st. 29
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

“Now, nothing should be able to harm a man except himself. Nothing should be able to rob a man at all. What a man really has, is what is in him. What is outside of him should be a matter of no importance.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“Why, what a wonderful piece of luck! Here is a red rose! I have never seen any rose like it in all my life. It is so beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name.”

Oscar Wilde book The Happy Prince and Other Tales

"The Nightingale and the Rose"
The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888)