“I think life too complex a thing to be settled by these hard and fast rules.”

“It is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't.”

“Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.”

“Oh! it is absurd to have a hard-and-fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read.”

“Life is terrible. It rules us, we do not rule it.”

“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.”

“Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids. I consider it morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Health is the primary duty of life.”