Oscar Wilde Quotes - Page 73

• Lord Illingworth told me this morning that there was an orchid there as beautiful as the seven deadly sins.

  Oscar Wilde

  Beautiful, Morning, Orchids

  Oscar Wilde (1997). “Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: The Plays, the Poems, the Stories and the Essays Including De Profundis”, p.544, Wordsworth Editions

  128 Copy quote

• Alone, and without any reference to his neighbours, without any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thing; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all.

  Oscar Wilde

  Beautiful, Fashion, Being Alone

  Oscar Wilde, General Press (2016). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Novel, Short Stories, Poetry, Essays and Plays”, p.1043, GENERAL PRESS

  7 Copy quote

• It is very vulgar to talk about one's own business. Only people like stockbrokers do that, and then only at dinner parties.

  Oscar Wilde

  Business, Party, People

  7 Copy quote

• I was disappointed in Niagara - most people must be disappointed in Niagara. Every American bride is taken there, and the sight of the stupendous waterfall must be one of the earliest, if not the keenest, disappointments in American married life.

  Oscar Wilde

  Travel, Disappointment, Taken

  Oscar Wilde (1969). “The Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde”, p.7, University of Chicago Press

  34 Copy quote

• It is a dangerous thing to reform anyone.

  Oscar Wilde

  Change, Reform, Dangerous

  Oscar Wilde (2016). “Aphorisms”, p.14, Oscar Wilde

  5 Copy quote

• In going to America one learns that poverty is not a necessary accompaniment to civilization.

  Oscar Wilde

  Civilization, America, Poverty

  Oscar Wilde, Lady Wilde (1909). “Epigrams: Oscariana; Sebastian Melmoth; Phrases and philosophies; Oscar Wilde's literary art; Correspondence; Impressions of America, with an introduction by Stuart Mason; Oscar Wilde in America”

  7 Copy quote

• As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg

  Oscar Wilde

  Poverty, Poor, Begging

  Oscar Wilde (1997). “Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: The Plays, the Poems, the Stories and the Essays Including De Profundis”, p.1043, Wordsworth Editions

  9 Copy quote

• It is in the brain that the poppy is red, that the apple is odorous, that the skylark sings.

  Oscar Wilde

  Apples, Brain, Red

  Oscar Wilde (2004). “The Best of Oscar Wilde: Selected Plays and Writings”, p.9, Penguin

  14 Copy quote

• 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.

  Oscar Wilde

  Art, Appreciate, Taste

  Oscar Wilde (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Illustrated)”, p.1653, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• He was a hero to his valet, who bullied him, and a terror to most of his relations, whom he bullied in turn. Only England could have produced him, and he always said that the country was going to the dogs. His principles were out of date, but there was a good deal to be said for his prejudices.

  Oscar Wilde

  Country, Bullying, Dog

  Oscar Wilde (2007). “The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde”, p.25, Wordsworth Editions

  7 Copy quote

• Intellectual generalities are always interesting, but generalities in morals mean absolutely nothing.

  Oscar Wilde

  Mean, Interesting, Intellectual

  Oscar Wilde (2012). “The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde”, p.190, Courier Corporation

  4 Copy quote

• The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance.

  Oscar Wilde

  Funny, Money, Extravagance

  Oscar Wilde (2007). “Epigrams of Oscar Wilde”, p.187, Wordsworth Editions

  7 Copy quote

• The best one can say of modern creative art is that it is just a little less vulgar than reality.

  Oscar Wilde

  Art, Reality, Creative

  4 Copy quote

• Her love was trembling in laughter on her lips.

  Oscar Wilde

  Laughter, Emo, Lips

  Oscar Wilde (2015). “The Picture of Dorian Gray (Diversion Classics)”, p.73, Diversion Books

  5 Copy quote

• It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America when they have their mothers and their manners.

  Oscar Wilde

  Mother, America, Insulting

  Oscar Wilde (2014). “Epigrams and Aphorisms”, p.55, BoD – Books on Demand

  4 Copy quote

• In England it is enough for a man to try and produce any serious, beautiful work to lose all his rights as a citizen.

  Oscar Wilde

  Beautiful, Men, Rights

  Oscar Wilde (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Illustrated)”, p.1583, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight refreshment at five o'clock.

  Oscar Wilde

  Believe, Tea, Clock

  Oscar Wilde (2016). “The Importance of Being Earnest: Revised Edition”, p.7, Bloomsbury Publishing

  4 Copy quote

• Perhaps in nearly every joy, as certainly in every pleasure, cruelty has its place.

  Oscar Wilde

  Joy, Pleasure, Cruelty

  Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson, Joseph Bristow, Ian Small (2000). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray : the 1890 and 1891 texts”, p.105, Oxford University Press on Demand

  4 Copy quote

• There is nothing that stirs in the whole world of thought to which sorrow does not vibrate in terrible and exquisite pulsation.

  Oscar Wilde

  Grief, Suffering, Sorrow

  Oscar Wilde (1961). “DE PROFUNDIS”, p.7, VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS

  4 Copy quote

• Life would be dull without them.

  Oscar Wilde

  Mistake, Would Be, Dull

  4 Copy quote

• Lord Darlington (LD): I think life too complex a thing to be settled by these hard and fast rules. Lady Windemere (LW): If we had 'hard-and-fast rules' we would find life much simpler. LD: You allow of no exceptions? LW: None! LD: Ah, what a fascinating Puritan you are, LW. LW: The adjective was unnecessary, LD.

  Oscar Wilde

  Life, Thinking, Lds

  5 Copy quote

• There is something tragic about the enormous number of young men there are in England at the present moment who start life with perfect profiles, and end by adopting some useful profession.

  Oscar Wilde

  Work, Men, Numbers

  Oscar Wilde (1969). “The Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde”, p.437, University of Chicago Press

  4 Copy quote

• Life, Lady Stutfield, is simply a mauvais quart d'heure made up of exquisite moments.

  Oscar Wilde

  Life, Moments, Made

  Oscar Wilde (2000). “The Plays of Oscar Wilde”, p.237, Wordsworth Editions

  7 Copy quote

• Judges, like the criminal classes, have their lighter moments

  Oscar Wilde

  Class, Judging, Judgement

  Oscar Wilde (2014). “A Critic in Pall Mall: Being Extracts from Reviews and Miscellanies”, p.150, Simon and Schuster

  4 Copy quote

• I dislike modern memoirs. They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering.

  Oscar Wilde

  Memories, People, Done

  Oscar Wilde (1969). “The Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde”, p.341, University of Chicago Press

  9 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Alfred Douglas

Edgar Allan Poe

Mark Twain

Charles Dickens

George Bernard Shaw

James Joyce

William Shakespeare

Jane Austen