Oscar Wilde

“Nothing in the whole world is meaningless, and suffering least of all.”

— Oscar Wilde《De Profundis》

“It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The soul is a terrible reality. It can be bought, and sold, and bartered away.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“People are very fond of giving away what they need most themselves. It is what I call the depth of generosity.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Soul of Man under Socialism》

“There is a luxury in self-reproach.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“To realize one’s nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“To define is to limit.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“To regret one's own experiences is to arrest one's own development.”

— Oscar Wilde《De Profundis》

“Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“Where there is sorrow there is holy ground.”

— Oscar Wilde《De Profundis》

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Soul of Man under Socialism》

“All art is quite useless.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Picture of Dorian Gray》

“With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism.”

— Oscar Wilde《The Soul of Man under Socialism》