Oscar Wilde quotes - page 47

It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words. . . . The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. (Oscar Wilde)
It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America, when they have their mothers and their manners. View quote
Oscar Wilde
Put your talent into your work, but your genius into your life. View quote
Oscar Wilde
MRS ALLONBY. They say, Lady Hunstanton, that when good Americans die they go to Paris. LADY HUNSTANTON. Indeed And when bad Americans die, where do they go to; LORD ILLINGWORTH. Oh, they go to America. View quote
Oscar Wilde
A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection. View quote
Oscar Wilde
And now, I am dying beyond my means. Sipping champagne on his deathbed. View quote
Oscar Wilde
Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualification. View quote
Oscar Wilde
They are horribly tedious when they are good husbands, and abominably conceited when they are not. View quote
Oscar Wilde
The Americans are certainly hero-worshippers, and always take their heroes from the criminal classes. View quote
Oscar Wilde
What is mind but motion in the intellectual sphere. View quote
Oscar Wilde
The condition of perfection is idleness the aim of perfection is youth. (Oscar Wilde)
London is full of women who trust their husbands. One can always recognise them. They look so thoroughly unhappy. View quote
Oscar Wilde
If property had simply pleasures, we could stand it but its duties make it unbearable. In the interest of the rich we must get rid of it. View quote
Oscar Wilde
A man who pays his bills on time is soon forgotten. View quote
Oscar Wilde
For an artist to marry his model is as fatal as for a gourmet to marry his cook the one gets no sittings, and the other gets no dinners. View quote
Oscar Wilde
Its always with the best intentions that the worst work is done. View quote
Oscar Wilde
The English public, as a mass, takes no interest in a work of art until it is told that the work in question is immoral. View quote
Oscar Wilde
In fact, the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people. . . . The Japanese people are. . . simply a mode of style, an exquisite fancy of art. View quote
Oscar Wilde
If one hears bad music, it is one's duty to drown it by one's coversation. View quote
Oscar Wilde
If there is anything in the world more annoying than having people talk about you, it is certainly having no one talk about you. View quote
Oscar Wilde
In going to America one learns that poverty is not a necessary accompaniment to civilisation. (Oscar Wilde)
Who am I to tamper with a masterpiece. View quote
Oscar Wilde
Absolute catholicity of taste is not without its dangers. It is only an auctioneer who should admire all schools of art. View quote
Oscar Wilde
To elope is cowardly it is running away from danger and danger has become so rare in modern life. View quote
Oscar Wilde
As one knows the poet by his fine music, so one can recognise the liar by his rich rhythmic utterance, and in neither case will the casual inspiration of the moment suffice. Here, as elsewhere, practice must precede perfection. View quote
Oscar Wilde