Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) is one playwright I really enjoy reading. I love the satirical nature of his plays on the society he was living in. The wit and humour of his writings are still so relevant today. Some of the things he had said are hilarious as well.
Here are some of my favourite quotes from Oscar Wilde:
Advice
I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
(An Ideal Husband)
Exercise
I often take exercise. Why only yesterday I had breakfast in bed.
Excess/Moderation
Moderation is a fatal thing, Lady Hunstanton. Nothing succeeds like excess.
(A Woman of No Importance)
Experience and Mistakes
Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.
(Lady Windermere’s Fan)
Fair play
One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
Genius
I have nothing to declare except my genius.
(at New York customs)
Love
To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.
(An Ideal Husband)
Young men want to be faithful and are not; old men want to be faithless and cannot.
(The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Men/Women
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.
(The Importance of Being Earnest)
Talked About
There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
(The Portrait of Dorian Gray)
Temptation
I can resist everything except temptation.
(Lady Windermere’s Fan)
Values
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
(Lady Windermere’s Fan)
Oscar Wilde had only one novel published which was The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). He also wrote several poems. He is however most notably known as a playwright. His most famous plays are Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).