Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, 1854 - 1900
Photo by Napoleon Sarony (1882)
Born: 16 October 1854, Dublin, Ireland
Died: 30 November 1900, Paris, France
Wilde's father was a well-known surgeon, his mother was a six-foot poetess who lived to create sensation, a trait that Oscar picked up. For most of his years he treated life as a performance, buying much of his clothing from theatrical costumers rather than tailors. At thirty he decided to become respectable, married, and sired two sons. But two years later he started sneaking off to Oxford to disport with young men and abandoned his family, claiming to have "forgotten the address." He spent the years 1888 - 1895 in a haze of liquor and young men, but managed to do most of his writing during the period. This ended when the Marquess of Queensbury accused him of improper relations with the Marquess' son, Wilde sued for libel, but in the course of the trial his homosexuality was revealed and Wilde was sentenced to two years at hard labor. Out of prison again, he wrote little, took the alias Sebastian Melmoth, moved to the continent, and died penniless at Paris in 1900. He would have appreciated being remembered for his quotes.
Biography from Wikipedia and Authors' Calendar
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Oscar Wilde quotes:
Quotes found : 257 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 18) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
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- A cigarette is the perfect type of perfect pleasure. It is exquisite and it leaves one unsatisfied. permalink
Oscar Wilde - A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies. permalink
Oscar Wilde - A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction. permalink
Oscar Wilde - 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. permalink
Oscar Wilde - The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1895) - A poet can survive everything but a misprint. permalink
Oscar Wilde - "The Children of the Poets" in The Pall Mall Gazette (14 October 1886) - A simile committing suicide is always a depressing spectacle. permalink
Oscar Wilde - "The Poets' Corner III" in The Pall Mall Gazette (30 May 1887) - A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it. permalink
Oscar Wilde - The Portrait of Mr. W. H. (1889) - A thing is, according to the mode in which one looks at it. permalink
Oscar Wilde - De Profundis (1895) - A woman's life revolves in curves of emotions. It is upon lines of intellect that a man's life progresses. permalink
Oscar Wilde - "An Ideal Husband" (1895) - Alas, I am dying beyond my means. permalink
Oscar Wilde - sipping champagne on his deathbed - All art is immoral. permalink
Oscar Wilde - Intentions (1891) - All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. permalink
Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) - Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. permalink
Oscar Wilde - Ambition is the last refuge of the failure. permalink
Oscar Wilde - "Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young" in The Chameleon (December 1894) - An egg is always an adventure; the next one may be different. permalink
Oscar Wilde
Quotes found : 257 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 18) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
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