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Oscar Wilde Quotes
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812 Quotes on Love, Forgiveness, Rebellion, and Embracing Your Unique Voice

Experience the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde through his most famous quotes. From the importance of love and forgiveness to the rebellion within every woman, delve into the captivating world of Wilde's words and be inspired to embrace your own unique voice.

Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright who gained popularity in London in the late 19th century. Known for his epigrams and plays, Wilde achieved great success with works such as The Picture of Dorian Gray. He was also infamous for his conviction for gross indecency, resulting in imprisonment and ultimately, his early death at the age of 46.

Born to Anglo-Irish parents in Dublin, Wilde showed exceptional talent and intellect from a young age. After studying at prestigious universities, he became associated with aestheticism and immersed himself in literary pursuits. With his sharp wit and extravagant style, Wilde became a prominent figure in social circles. He expressed his artistic ideas through various literary endeavors, including poetry, lectures, and journalism.

Wilde’s fascination with art led him to write dramas that combined aesthetic details with broader societal themes. Although faced with obstacles such as the prohibition of biblical subjects on English stages, he proved resilient and went on to become one of the most successful playwrights of his time. However, his fame took a dramatic turn when he prosecuted the Marquess of Queensberry for libel due to their connection through Lord Alfred Douglas. The trial resulted not only in Wilde dropping charges but also in his arrest and conviction for homosexual acts.

While serving his sentence, Wilde penned De Profundis, a reflective letter that delves into his spiritual journey during his trials. Upon release, he fled to France where he wrote what would be his last work - The Ballad of Reading Gaol - an introspective poem inspired by the harsh realities of prison life. Wilde never returned to Ireland or Britain before his untimely demise. Despite enduring personal turmoil and societal backlash, Oscar Wilde left an indelible mark on literature and continues to be remembered as one of history's most influential writers.

✵ 16. October 1854 – 30. November 1900
Oscar Wilde photo
Oscar Wilde: 812   quotes 1007   likes

Oscar Wilde Quotes

“What a pity that in life we only get our lessons when they are of no use to us.”

Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan

Lady Windermere, Act IV
Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)

Life

“Mothers, of course, are all right. They pay a chap's bills and don't bother him. But fathers bother a chap and never pay his bills.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

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

“The note of the perfect personality is not rebellion, but peace.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

Peace , Personality , Perfection

“When private property is abolished there will be no necessity for crime, no demand for it; it will cease to exist.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

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

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act III
An Ideal Husband (1895)

Nature , Parent , Appearance , Time

“Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope.”

Oscar Wilde book The Ballad of Reading Gaol

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

Hope , Dead

“An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant as the case may be.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Lady Bracknell, Act I
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

Girl

“Tread Lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.”

Oscar Wilde Requiescat

Requiescat, st. 1 (1881)

“For a sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.”

Oscar Wilde book De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

“In Art, the public accept what has been, because they cannot alter it, not because they appreciate it. They swallow their classics whole, and never taste them. They endure them as the inevitable, and, as they cannot mar them, they mouth about them…A fresh mode of Beauty is absolutely distasteful to them, and whenever it appears they get so angry and bewildered that they always use two stupid expressions - one is that the work of art is grossly unintelligible; the other, that the work of art is grossly immoral.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

Stupidity , Beauty , Art , Appearance

“The fact is, that the public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesmanlike habits, supplies their demands”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
Source: Wilde, Oscar, (1891 / 1912) The Soul of Man Under Socialism, London, Arthur L. Humphreys. Retrieved from University of California Libraries Archive.org https://archive.org 26 February 2018 https://archive.org/details/soulofmanunderso00wildiala

“No gentleman ever has any money.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

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

Money

“It is well for his peace that the saint goes to his martyrdom. He is spared the sight of the horror of his harvest.”

Oscar Wilde

The Critic as Artist (1891), Part I

Peace

“Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community, and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilisation.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

People , Communication

“In examinations the foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer.”

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

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

Question

“I have never admitted that I am more than twenty-nine, or thirty at the most. Twenty-nine when there are pink shades, thirty when there are not.”

Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan

Mrs. Erlynne, Act IV
Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)

“There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannises over the body. There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul. There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul and body alike. The first is called the Prince. The second is called the Pope. The third is called the People.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

People , Soul

“For Man's grim Justice goes its way,
And will not swerve aside:
It slays the weak, it slays the strong,
It has a deadly stride:
With iron heel it slays the strong,
The monstrous parricide!”

Oscar Wilde book The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Pt. III, st. 19
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

Justice , Way , Strong

“Indifference is the revenge the world takes on mediocrities.”

Oscar Wilde Vera; or, The Nihilists

Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)

World , Revenge , Indifference

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

Oscar Wilde

Helas! http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/wilde/helas.html, l. 12-14 (1881)

Soul

“It seems to me that we all look at Nature too much, and live with her too little.”

Oscar Wilde book De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

Nature

“When a man does exactly what a woman expects him to do she doesn't think much of him. One should always do what a woman doesn't expect, just as one should say what she doesn't understand.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

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

Understanding , Thinking

“When a voice behind me whispered low,
"That fellow's got to swing."”

Oscar Wilde book The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Pt. I, st. 4
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

“He to whom the present is the only thing that is present, knows nothing of the age in which he lives.”

Oscar Wilde

"Oscariana" (1907), Complete Works, p. 32 https://books.google.com/books?id=-CtXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32

Age

“Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act III
An Ideal Husband (1895)

People , Fashion

“It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

Evil

“Ah! That must be Aunt Augusta. Only relatives, or creditors, ever ring in that Wagnerian manner.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

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

“I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Lord Goring, Act IV
An Ideal Husband (1895)

People

“To drift with every passion till my soul
Is a stringed lute on which all winds can play,
Is it for this that I have given away
Mine ancient wisdom, and austere control?
Methinks my life is a twice-written scroll
Scrawled over on some boyish holiday
With idle songs for pipe and virelay,
Which do but mar the secret of the whole.”

Oscar Wilde book Poems

"Hélas" (1881)
Poems (1881)

Life , Wisdom , Secret , Soul

“If it took Labouchere three columns to prove that I was forgotten, then there is no difference between fame and obscurity.”

Oscar Wilde

As quoted in The New-York Herald (12 August 1883) http://www.oscarwildeinamerica.org/quotations/fame-and-obscurity.html

“Sooner or later we have all to pay for what we do.”

Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband

Mrs Chevely, Act I
An Ideal Husband (1895)

“Lady Hunstanton: But do you believe all that is written in the newspapers?
Lord Illingworth: I do. Nowadays it is only the unreadable that occurs.”

Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance

Act I
A Woman of No Importance (1893)

“Here we allow absolute freedom to the journalist and entirely limit the artist. English public opinion, that is to say, tries to constrain and impede and warp the man who makes things that are beautiful in effect, and compels the journalist to retail things that are ugly, or disgusting, or revolting in fact, so that we have the most serious journalists in the world and the most indecent newspapers.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
Source: Wilde, Oscar, (1891 / 1912) The Soul of Man Under Socialism, London, Arthur L. Humphreys. Retrieved from University of California Libraries Archive.org https://archive.org 13 February 2018 https://archive.org/details/soulofmanunderso00wildiala

World , Beauty , Freedom

“It was a fatal day when the public discovered that the pen is mightier than the paving-stone, and can be made as offensive as the brickbat. They at once sought for the journalist, found him, developed him, and made him their industrious and well-paid servant. It is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakes. Behind the barricade there may be much that is noble and heroic. But what is there behind the leading-article but prejudice, stupidity, cant, and twaddle? And when these four are joined together they make a terrible force, and constitute the new authority.”

Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
Source: Wilde, Oscar, (1891 / 1912) The Soul of Man Under Socialism, London, Arthur L. Humphreys. Retrieved from University of California Libraries Archive.org https://archive.org 13 February 2018 https://archive.org/details/soulofmanunderso00wildiala

Stupidity

“As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.”

Oscar Wilde

The Critic as Artist (1891), Part II

War

“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)

Life , Beauty

“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)

“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)

Lie , Law , Strong

“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)

“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)

“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)

People , Beauty , Art

“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)

“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)

Life

“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)

Truth