“MRS ALLONBY I adore them. The clever people never listen, and the stupid people never talk.HESTER I think the stupid people talk a great deal.MRS ALLONBY Ah, I never listen!”

“MRS. ALLONBY. It is only fair to tell you beforehand he has got no conversation at all.LADY STUTFIELD. I adore silent men.MRS ALLONBY. Oh, Ernest isn't silent. He talks the whole time. But he has got no conversation. What he talks about I don't know. I haven't listened to him for years.”

“MRS ALLONBY You have your looking-glassLORD ILLINGWORTH It is unkind. I merely shows me my wrinkles.MRS ALLONBY Mine is better behaved. It never tells me the truth.LORD ILLINGWORTH Then it is in love with you.”

“MRS ALLONBY Have you tried a good reputation?LORD ILLINGWORTH It is one of the many annoyances to which I have never been subjected.”

“MRS ALLONBY Is she such a mystery?LORD ILLINGWORTH She is more than a mystery - she is a mood.MRS ALLONBY Moods don't last.LORD ILLINGWORTH It is their chief charm.”

“I never came across anyone in whom the moral sense was dominant who was not heartless, cruel, vindictive, log-stupid, and entirely lacking in the smallest sense of humanity. Moral people, as they are termed, are simple beasts.”

“I never take any notice to what common people say, and I never interfere with what charming people do.”