Oscar Wilde was a man of many loves. Despite everything, he felt genuine affection towards his wife, Constance, who died suddenly in 1898. He loved his sons Cyril and Vyvyan. He loved the beautiful young men and women he drew into his circle, including his most famous lovers, Alfred Douglas and Robert Ross.
And then there was his writing: He published his very first collection of poems in 1881. As the years passed, his art expanded to include short stories, essays, plays, and novels, but it’s his wit that most often is remembered. This Irish genius was known for his quick humor and biting sarcasm — qualities that made him both famous and infamous during his lifetime. When he died young, at only 46 years old, he left behind what would become some of literature’s most famous quotes. Even his last words before his death in a hotel in Paris became iconic: “This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Either it goes, or I do.” It seems fitting that Oscar Wilde’s last words would be so remarkable since he was such a master at speaking them. In his honor, we created a list of the best Oscar Wilde quotes, so you can also enjoy his most memorable one-liners!
#61
"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
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#62
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
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#63
“Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”
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#64
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”
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#65
“The world is a stage and the play is badly cast.”
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#66
“If you are not long, I will wait for you all my life.”
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#67
“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”
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#68
“There are moments when one has to choose between living one's own life, fully, entirely, completely-or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.”
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#69
“There is no sin except stupidity.”
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#70
“The nicest feeling in the world is to do a good deed anonymously-and have somebody find out.”
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#71
“Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you won't be invited to cocktail parties.”
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#72
“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do - the day after.”
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#73
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring.”
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#74
“If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”
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#75
“She behaves as if she was beautiful. Most American women do. It is the secret of their charm.”
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#76
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
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#77
“They get up early, because they have so much to do, and go to bed early, because they have so little to think about.”
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#78
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”
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#79
“To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”
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#80
“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.”
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