WILDE2

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

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

The liar at any rate recognizes that recreation, not instruction, is the aim of conversation, and is a far more civilized being than the blockhead who loudly expresses his disbelief in a story which is told simply for the amusement of the company.

The true perfection of man lies not in what man has, but in what man is.

The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison-air:
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there.

The worst vice of the fanatic is his sincerity.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

We are all in the gutter. But some of us are looking at the stars.

We live in an age that reads too much to be wise.

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.

Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.