Quotes from Oscar Wilde

If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously.  If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't.  Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.

Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the priviledge of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor shall be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.

What are American dry-goods? asked the duchess, raising her large hands in wonder and accentuating the verb. American novels, answered Lord Henry.

Lord Henry had not yet come in. He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time.

When you are not on your pedestal you are not interesting.

Not Forgive us for our sins but Smite us for our iniquities should be the prayer of man to a most just God.

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

To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.

beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich

I usually say what I really think. A great mistake nowadays. It makes one so liable to be misunderstood.

For the canons of good society are, or should be, the same as the canons of art. Form is absolutely essential to it.

Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are.