Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet during the late 1800s who is known for his clever wit and sharp tongue. He was also a bit of a playboy, which probably contributed to his quick wit.
Wilde’s writing style was very bitesize; he wrote in short paragraphs that were easy to digest. This made his work very popular and accessible to a wide audience. Wilde was also unafraid to tackle controversial subjects, which made his work even more interesting.
While Wilde was mostly known for his writing, he was also an accomplished speaker. He often gave lectures on art and aesthetics, and his eloquent speeches won him many admirers.
He was known for his flamboyant fashion sense and for his love of parties and expensive lifestyle. He was also openly gay at a time when it was still taboo, which earned him both admirers and detractors.
Here are some of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes. Enjoy!
1. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde
2. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
3. “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell the truth.” – Oscar Wilde
4. “The answers are all out there, we just need to ask the right questions.” – Oscar Wilde
5. “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
6. “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” – Oscar Wilde
7. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde
8. “It takes a great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.” – Oscar Wilde
9. “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde
10. “Everyone may not be good, but there’s always something good in everyone. Never judge anyone shortly because every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” – Oscar Wilde
11. “They’ve promised that dreams can come true, but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too.” – Oscar Wilde
12. “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” – Oscar Wilde
13. “Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.” – Oscar Wilde
14. “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” – Oscar Wilde
15. “A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.” – Oscar Wilde
16. “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” – Oscar Wilde
17. “The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” – Oscar Wilde
18. “The world is divided into two classes—those who believe the incredible and those who do the improbable.” – Oscar Wilde
19. “Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.” – Oscar Wilde
20. “Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals.” – Oscar Wilde
21. “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” – Oscar Wilde
22. “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.” – Oscar Wilde
23. “It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But it is better to be good than to be ugly.” – Oscar Wilde
24. “There is no sin except stupidity.” – Oscar Wilde
25. “Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
26. “You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit.” – Oscar Wilde
27. “I have nothing to declare except my genius.” – Oscar Wilde
28. “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” – Oscar Wilde
29. “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” – Oscar Wilde
30. “It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” – Oscar Wilde
31. “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.” – Oscar Wilde
32. “Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.” – Oscar Wilde
33. “Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.” – Oscar Wilde
34. “Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.” – Oscar Wilde
35. “There are only two tragedies in life—one is not getting what one wants and the other is getting it.” – Oscar Wilde
36. “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring.”- Oscar Wilde
37. “Who, being loved, is poor?” – Oscar Wilde
38. “The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.” – Oscar Wilde
39. “Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” – Oscar Wilde
40. “Women are made to be loved, not understood.” – Oscar Wilde
41. “Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” – Oscar Wilde
42. “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” – Oscar Wilde
43. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde
44. “Men always want to be a woman’s first love; women like to be a man’s last romance.” – Oscar Wilde
45. “There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love.” – Oscar Wilde
46. “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” – Oscar Wilde
47. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” – Oscar Wilde
48. “To define is to limit.” – Oscar Wilde
49. “The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.” – Oscar Wilde
50. “I am not young enough to know everything.” – Oscar Wilde
51. “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” – Oscar Wilde
52. “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.” – Oscar Wilde
53. “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.” – Oscar Wilde
54. “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” – Oscar Wilde
55. “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” – Oscar Wilde
56. “Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing.” – Oscar Wilde
57. “When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life. Now that I am old, I know that it is.” – Oscar Wilde
58. “Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.” – Oscar Wilde
59. “True friends stab you in the front.” – Oscar Wilde
60. “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” – Oscar Wilde
61. “Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.” – Oscar Wilde
62. “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” – Oscar Wilde Quotes
63. “Between men and women, there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.” – Oscar Wilde Quotes
64. “Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious—both are disappointed.” – Oscar Wilde
65. “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” – Oscar Wilde
66. “Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.” – Oscar Wilde
67. “I can resist everything except temptation.” – Oscar Wilde
68. “He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” – Oscar Wilde
69. “Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.” – Oscar Wilde
70. “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” – Oscar Wilde
Although he was known for his sharp wit, there is more to Oscar Wilde than just clever one-liners. These quotes show the depth of his thinking and provide insight into what made him such a brilliant thinker and writer.