Oscar Wilde

I am not a philosopher. I am an artist.

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

I am not a teacher. I am an artist.

I am not a critic. I am an artist.

The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer.

I am not a man of science. I am an artist.

I am not a realist. I am an idealist.

I never approve of anything that is popular.

Cynicism is merely the art of seeing things as they are instead of as they ought to be.

I am not at all surprised. All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.

I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.

Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions.

Punctuality is the thief of time.

To get into the best society nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desires that its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.

Life is a terribly real thing, even to those who have no imagination. For those who have, it is an adventure.

Man is a being born to believe. And if no God is given him, he will create one for himself.

Experience is merely the name men give to their mistakes.

The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life. And the body is born young and grows old. That is life's tragedy.