Quotes from Oscar Wilde

Ordinary people waited till life disclosed to them its secrets, but to the few, to the elect, the mysteries of life were revealed before the veil was drawn away.

Nothing really at any period of my life was ever of the smallest importance to me compared with Art. But in the case of an artist, weakness is nothing less than a crime, when it is a weakness that paralyses the imagination

Everyone is brilliant at breakfast.

There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as youth's passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world.

Ah! Happy they whose hearts can break And peace of pardon win! How else may man make straight his path And cleanse his soul from sin? How else but through a broken heart May the Lord Christ enter in?

If a personality fascinates me, whatever mode of expression that personality selects is absolutely delightful to me.

The blood-stain has been much admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed. That is all nonsense, cried Washington Otis; Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent will clean it up in no time, and before the terrified housekeeper could interfere, he had fallen upon his knees, and was rapidly scouring the floor with a small stick of what looked like a black cosmetic. In a few moments no trace of the blood-stain could be seen.

My dear Hiram, cried Mrs. Otis, what can we do with a woman who faints? Charge it to her like breakages, answered the Minister; she won't faint after that;

A rose shook in her blood and shadowed her cheeks. Quick breath parted the petals of her lips. They trembled. Some southern wind of passion swept over her and stirred the dainty folds of her dress. I love him, she said simply.

It is to do nothing that the elect exist. Action is limited and relative. Unlimited and absolute is the vision of him who sits at ease and watches, who walks in loneliness and dreams.

I like the duchess very much, but I don't love her. And the duchess loves you very much, but she likes you less, so you are excellently matched.

Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the market-place. It may not be purchased of the merchants, nor can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.