Lord Henry Wotton

"Humanity takes itself so seriously. It is the one thing that makes us ridiculous."

"There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray. All influence is immoral."

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."

"I can resist everything except temptation."

"Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius."

"To define is to limit."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

"Conscience and cowardice are really the same things."

"How sad it is that one has to conceal all the fascinating things one thinks."

"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

"One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age."

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."

"Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!"

"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."

"One can always recognize women who trust their husbands. They look so thoroughly unhappy."

"I am dying of ennui. Perhaps you know the cure for it, Mr. Gray."

"The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists."

"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art."

"I have not denied anything to myself. I am quite frank about my own nature."

"Every impulse that we stifle is a regret."

"I don't think that the object is just one life. I think that there should be many lives."

"I can resist everything except temptation."

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."

"Being natural is simply a pose, and the most irritating pose I know."

"There is no such thing as a good influence. All influence is immoral."

"One can always recognize women who trust their husbands. They look so thoroughly unhappy."

"Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people."

"As for being fashionable, I find that quite easy. It is only the obvious that is difficult."

"The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past."

"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."