Oscar Wilde
The Irish playwright and poet whose sharp wit and satirical works, including “The Importance of Being Earnest,” have cemented his status as a master of aphorism.
collection of quotes by Oscar Wilde
Here are several famous and thought-provoking quotes by Oscar Wilde, celebrated for his wit, humor, and profound insights into human nature and society:
On Life and Living:
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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
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“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
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“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
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“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.”
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“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
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“Experience is merely the name men give to their mistakes.”
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“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
On Love and Relationships:
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“Who, being loved, is poor?”
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“Men always want to be a woman’s first love – women like to be a man’s last romance.”
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“A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.”
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“Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”
On Society and Morality:
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“Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.”
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“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.”
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“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
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“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
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“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
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“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
On Art and Aesthetics:
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“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
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“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
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“All art is quite useless.”
On Wisdom and Foolishness:
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“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”
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“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
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“The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
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“I can resist everything except temptation.”
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“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
On Truth and Lies:
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“A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.”
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“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
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“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.”
On Happiness and Success:
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“Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.”
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“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
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“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”