Oscar Wilde

"The truth is rarely pure and never what one wants to hear."

"I do not wish to be at the mercy of my emotions."

"One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation."

"Art should never try to be popular. The public should try to make itself artistic."

"I can think of nothing to say that would interest you."

"The basis of literary friendship is mixing the wine and water of life."

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but it would not fetch the same price in the market."

"I'm afraid I take no interest whatsoever in the social problems of the age."

"Wisdom comes with age, but it doesn't always show up to the party."

"The only form of lying that is absolutely beyond reproach is fiction."

"I can resist everything except temptation."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

"I am not young enough to know everything."

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that very existence is an act of rebellion."

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."

"I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good—in spite of all the people who say he is very good."

"I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do the day after."

"One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards."

"Art should never try to be popular. The public should try to make itself artistic."

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."

"I can live for two months on a good compliment."

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions."

"When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people."

"I believe that if one man were to die, to really die, the whole world would lose an element of strength."