100 Oscar Wilde Quotes: Wisdom, Wit, and Inspiration
Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author who lived in the late 19th century. He was known for his razor-sharp wit, biting sarcasm, and insightful observations on life and human nature.
Wilde’s works, including “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Importance of Being Earnest,” have been widely acclaimed and continue to be popular to this day.
But it’s not just his writing that has made Wilde a household name; he was also famous for his epigrams and one-liners, many of which have become famous quotes in their own right.
In this listicle, we’ve compiled 100 of Wilde’s most memorable quotes, encompassing everything from humor and satire to wisdom and inspiration. Whether you’re a fan of Wilde’s work or simply looking for a little uplift, these quotes are sure to delight and inspire.
100 Famous quotes by Oscar Wilde
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“I have nothing to declare except my genius.”
“The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
“Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
“The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without a purpose.”
“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.”
“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”
“I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.”
“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
“It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly.”
“To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”
“A good friend will always stab you in the front.”
“The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.”
“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
“The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
“A poet can survive everything but a misprint.”
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.”
“The best things in life are free.”
“A man’s face is his autobiography.”
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”
“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
“One should never trust a woman who tells her real age. If she tells that, she’ll tell anything.”
“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal.”
“It is not what we read, but what we remember, that makes us learned.”
“The book of life begins with a man and woman in a garden; it ends with Revelations.”
“Nature is by and large to be found in the countryside.”
“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.”
“Beauty is a form of genius – is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation.”
“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”
“If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized
“Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”
“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.”
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”
“One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.”
“The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to some one else, if she is plain.”
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
“It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But… it is better to be good than to be ugly.”
“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”
“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”
“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”
“The only duty we have to history is to rewrite it.”
“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”
“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”
“There is no sin except stupidity.”
“Pleasure without conscience is the greatest of all evils.”
“It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.”
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
“It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.”
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
“One can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.”
“When good Americans die, they go to Paris.”
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
“One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.”
“It is only by not paying one’s bills that one can hope to live in the memory of the commercial classes.”
“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”
“The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”
“Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
“A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.”
“One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
“A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.”
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest of intentions.”
“If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.”
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
“People who count their chickens before they are hatched act very wisely because chickens run about so absurdly that it’s impossible to count them accurately.”
“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal.”
“The only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
“The difference between a good style and a bad one is the difference between fireworks and a fire in a rubbish dump.”
“No great genius has ever existed who did not have to endure endless ridicule and ignorance.”
“I have the simplest tastes. I always like the best.”
“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
“A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.”
“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
“The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.”
“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.”
“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.”
“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.”
Conclusive
These are some of the most famous quotes from Oscar Wilde, the brilliant playwright, and author who lived in the late 19th century. Wilde’s wit and wisdom continue to inspire and entertain people to this day, and his words are as relevant now as they were a hundred years ago. Whether you’re looking for a witty one-liner or a thought-provoking observation, you’re sure to find something of interest in Wilde’s vast body of work.
