200+ "Oscar Wilde" Quotes And Sayings

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin in 1854. He was the youngest of three children of Sir William Wilde of Trinity College, Dublin, and Jane Francesca Elgee. His father died when Oscar was four years old, and his mother when he was five. He spent the rest of his childhood with relatives in Ireland before being sent to study at Oxford University where he became friends with Lord Alfred Douglas (later the notorious literary figure "Bosie") Read more

After graduating in 1881, Wilde pursued a career in London theatre. He was introduced to Lord Alfred Douglas by another friend in 1882. The two had an intense sexual friendship that came to be known in salacious stories as "Bosie's End".

The relationship lasted for several years. Apparently in his later life Wilde maintained a kinder attitude toward Bosie than he did toward many others (including his husband), writing that he thought Bosie "had fought his way nobly through many temptations". Wilde's reputation as a wit was established early on with his debut collection of poems, "A Woman Young and Old" (1881), which includes "The Sphinx", "The Portrait of Mr W.H.", and "The Sphinx Revisited". His play "Lady Windermere's Fan" (1892) is the basis for the famous play with the same name by Oscar Wilde.

He began writing fiction in earnest with "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891). In total Wilde published twelve novels, four plays, hundreds of poems, and other prose works. Although he is now mainly remembered as a writer, Wilde also worked as a journalist and social commentator during this period.

He wrote a number of other plays including first performed plays such as Salomé (1893), The Duchess Of Padua (1894), The House Of Pomegranates (1894), The Importance Of Being Earnest (1895), Lady Windermere's Fan (1893) as well as one-act plays such as An Ideal Husband (1895), A Woman Of No Importance (1902). Wilde spent time abroad during this period, spending time in France where he met the French poet Rachel de Morhange who inspired two poems: "La Revanche" and "La Prisonnière". The two had a tempestuous affair before he broke it off after

Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.
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Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary. Oscar Wilde
The heart was made to be broken.
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The heart was made to be broken. Oscar Wilde
The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
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The very essence of romance is uncertainty. Oscar Wilde
To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.
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To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. Oscar Wilde
Who, being loved, is poor?
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Who, being loved, is poor? Oscar Wilde
Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each...
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Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard Some do it with a bitter look Some with a flattering word The coward does it with a kiss The brave man with a sword Oscar Wilde
One should always be in love. That's the reason one...
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One should always be in love. That's the reason one should never marry. Oscar Wilde
A man can be happy with any woman as long...
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A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her. Oscar Wilde
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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. Oscar Wilde
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I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact. Oscar Wilde
Hearts Live By Being Wounded
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Hearts Live By Being Wounded Oscar Wilde
It takes great courage to see the world in all...
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It takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it. And even more courage to see it in the one you love Oscar Wilde
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You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid Oscar Wilde
A kiss may ruin a human life
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A kiss may ruin a human life Oscar Wilde
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My life-my whole life- take it, and do with it what you will. I love you-love you as I have never loved any living thing. From the moment I met you I loved you, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly! You didn't know it then-you know it now. Oscar Wilde
When I like people immensely I never tell their names...
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When I like people immensely I never tell their names to anyone. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy. Oscar Wilde
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most...
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To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. Oscar Wilde
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack...
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. Oscar Wilde
Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less...
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Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life. Oscar Wilde
The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature...
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The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for. Oscar Wilde