Quotes from book

The Picture of Dorian Gray

“There was so much in you that charmed me that I felt I must tell you something about yourself. I thought how tragic it would be if you were wasted.”

“It is the stupid and the ugly who have the best of it in this world”

“There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love.”

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”

“They get up early, because they have so much to do, and go to bed early, because they have so little to think about.”

“The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”

“When a woman marries again, it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs.”

“It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible….”

“There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.”

“We women, as some one says, love with our ears, just as you men love with your eyes…”

“I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real.”

“All art is quite useless.”

“The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”

“I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if only one hides it.”

“You must have a cigarette. A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?”

“Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.”

“Some things are more precious because they don't last long.”

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.”

“Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.”