Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories, and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.
As the result of a widely covered series of trials, Wilde suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years hard labour after being convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. After Wilde was released from prison he set sail for Dieppe by the night ferry. He never returned to Ireland or Britain, and died in poverty.
“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”
Oscar Wilde
“One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.”
Oscar Wilde
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Oscar Wilde
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
Oscar Wilde
“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”
Oscar Wilde
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Oscar Wilde
“Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
Oscar Wilde
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
Oscar Wilde