“To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

“As Oscar Wilde once said, "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.”

“To lose one child, Mr. DeTamble, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose three looks like carelessness.”

“I am less to you than your ivory Hermes or your silver Faun. You will like them always. How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose. I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself.”

“An admirable idea! Mr. Worthing, there is just one question I would like to be permitted to put to you. Where is your brother Ernest? We are both engaged to be married to your brother Ernest, so it is a matter of some importance to us to know where your brother Ernest is at present.”

“One is tempted to define man as a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.”

“Philanthropic people lose all sense of humanity. It is their distinguishing characteristic.”