100+ Oscar Wilde Quotes for Inspiration and Wit
Oscar Wilde's wit and wisdom continue to resonate with people across the globe. Known for his boundless creativity and unmatched eloquence, Wilde's quotes capture the human condition with insight and humor. This article delves into some of the most memorable Oscar Wilde quotes, organized by themes that reflect different aspects of life and society. Each subtitle offers a unique perspective on Wilde's work, from love and friendship to society and the art of living. Step into the world of Oscar Wilde, where words spark reflection, provoke thought, and elicit laughter.
"The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death."
"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
"Women are made to be loved, not understood."
"When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving oneself, and ends by deceiving others."
"The very essence of romance is uncertainty."
"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear."
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead."
"Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary."
"Heartbreak is a loss. Divorce is a piece of paper."
"The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties."
"Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance."
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known."
"No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"All art is quite useless."
"Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art."
"A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament."
"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life."
"The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic."
"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them."
"A poet can survive everything but a misprint."
"Bad artists always admire each other’s work."
"Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals."
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."
"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike."
"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."
"A good friend will always stab you in the front."
"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
"I can resist everything except temptation."
"Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow."
"Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success."
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about."
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
"Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing."
"The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for."
"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."
"One's real life is often the life that one does not lead."
"You can never be overdressed or overeducated."
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life."
"The heart was made to be broken."
"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result."
"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
"I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do the day after."
"I can resist everything except temptation."
"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."
"No good deed goes unpunished."
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."
"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
"To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up."
"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast."
"A good friend will always stab you in the front."
"True friends stab you in the front."
"Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation."
"Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success."
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."
"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself."
"An excellent man; he has no enemies; and none of his friends like him."
"I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects."
"One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human."
"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."
"Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer."
"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result."
"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it."
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself."
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."
"Ambition is the last refuge of the failure."
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."
"No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly."
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out."
"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"Only the shallow know themselves."
"The truth is seldom pure and never simple."
"Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art."
"Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives."
"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."
"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."
"I am not young enough to know everything."
"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself."
"Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived."
"Democracy is simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people."
"There is no sin except stupidity."
"Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer."
"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."
"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike."
"The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it."
"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."
"I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones."
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."
"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
"To define is to limit."
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions."
"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance."
"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all."
"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."
"I am not young enough to know everything."
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
"To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up."
"I can resist anything except temptation."
"True friends stab you in the front."
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
