Quotes from Oscar Wilde

Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever.  If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square. 

Never trust a woman who wears mauve, whatever her age may be, or a woman over thirty-five who is fond of pink ribbons. It always means that they have a history.

There is always something infinitely mean about other people's tragedies.

As pessoas comuns costumavam esperar para que a vida lhes exibisse os próprios segredos; para a minoria, porém, para os eleitos, os mistérios da vida eram revelados antes mesmo que o véu fosse afastado, efeito, muitas vezes, da arte, especialmente da literatura, que lida, direto, com as paixões e o intelecto.

I think thy spirit hath passed away From these white cliffs and high-embattled towers; This gorgeous fiery-coloured world of ours Seems fallen into ashes dull and grey

Hay muchas cosas que abandonaríamos si no temiéramos que otros pudiesen recogerlas.

I have come up to town expressly to propose to her. Algernon. I thought you had come up for pleasure? . . . I call that business.

The whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people.

If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.

I have always been my own master; had at least always been so, till I met Dorian Gray. Then - but I don't know how to explain it to you. Something seemed to tell me that I was on the verge of a terrible crisis in my life. I had a strange feeling that Fate had in store for me exquisite joys and exquisite sorrows. I grew afraid, and turned to quit the room. It was not conscience that made me do so: it was a sort of cowardice. I take no credit to myself for trying to escape.

Alma e corpo, corpo e alma, como eram misteriosos! Havia animalismo na alma, e o corpo possuía momentos de espiritualidade.

O we are wearied of this sense of guilt, Wearied of pleasure's paramour despair, Wearied of every temple we have built, Wearied of every unanswered right, unanswered prayer, For man is weak; God sleeps: and heaven is high: One fiery-colored moment: one great love: and lo! we die.

But surely it is something to have been The best beloved for a little while, To have walked hand in hand with Love, and seen His purple wings flit once across thy smile.

art had no moral responsibility. Art, he argued, should strive only to be a beautiful object entirely separate from its creator.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium

I am not laughing, Dorian; at least I am not laughing at you. But you should not say the greatest romance of your life. You should say the first romance of your life. You will always be loved, and you will always be in love with love. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

I don't propose to discuss politics, sociology, or metaphysics with you. I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world.

I'm too fond of reading books to care to write them.

I have grown sick of shadows. You are more to me than all art can ever be.

for that there was no atonement; but though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness was possible still

Si no tarda usted mucho, le esperaré aquí toda la vida.

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

very essence of romance is uncertainty.  If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.