The 150 Best Oscar Wilde Quotes: Wit, Wisdom, and Timeless Observations

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde—poet, playwright, novelist, and perhaps the most quotable figure in literary history. Born in Dublin in 1854, Wilde became the embodiment of wit and aesthetic beauty, leaving behind a treasure trove of observations that continue to sparkle with relevance more than a century after his death.

Wilde possessed an extraordinary gift for capturing profound truths in perfectly crafted sentences, often with a twist of irony or paradox that makes you smile while making you think. His quotes reveal a man who understood human nature with remarkable clarity, someone who could see through society's pretenses while celebrating life's beauty and absurdity.

From his famous plays like "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "An Ideal Husband" to his novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Wilde's words have enchanted readers and audiences for generations. His observations on love, art, society, human nature, and life itself remain as fresh and insightful today as they were in Victorian England.

Whether you're seeking wisdom about love and relationships, inspiration for creative pursuits, or simply a clever perspective on life's ironies, Oscar Wilde's quotes offer something for everyone. His ability to find humor in the serious and depth in the trivial makes his wisdom both accessible and profound.

Here are the 150 most brilliant, witty, and insightful quotes from Oscar Wilde, organized by themes that showcase the full range of his genius.

On Life and Living: The Art of Existence

Wilde understood that life itself was an art form, and these quotes reveal his philosophy on how to live fully and authentically.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
"I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability."
"I can resist everything except temptation."
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about."
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
"I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions."
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
"Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you."
"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."
"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."
"The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself."

On Love and Romance: Matters of the Heart

Few writers have captured the complexities of love with Wilde's combination of romanticism and realism.

"Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary."
"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
"Hearts are made to be broken."
"The very essence of romance is uncertainty."
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
"When poverty comes in at the door, love creeps out of the window."
"The heart was made to be broken."
"There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love."
"A kiss may ruin a human life."
"Love is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling."
"The only difference between a caprice and a lifelong passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer."
"Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed."
"When I married Lord Bracknell, I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way."
"The world has grown suspicious of anything that looks like a happily married life."
"Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest upon reciprocity."

On Art and Beauty: The Aesthetic Philosophy

As a leader of the Aesthetic Movement, Wilde had profound insights about art, beauty, and creativity.

"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."
"We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it."
"All art is quite useless."
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."
"The artist is the creator of beautiful things."
"I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do the day after."
"A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament."
"The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists."
"No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."
"Art never expresses anything but itself."
"The secret of life is in art."
"Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm."
"Aestheticism is a search after the signs of the beautiful."
"The aim of art is simply to create a mood."
"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art."

Wilde's observations about society were often cutting, always insightful, and frequently hilarious.

"Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals."
"I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable."
"Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear."
"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."
"Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there."
"London is too full of fogs and serious people. Whether the fogs produce the serious people, or whether the serious people produce the fogs, I don't know."
"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."
"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
"We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities."
"Punctuality is the thief of time."
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes."
"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught."
"Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people."
"The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves."

On Wit and Wisdom: Paradoxes and Observations

Wilde's genius for paradox and clever observation is on full display in these memorable quotes.

"I am not young enough to know everything."
"The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything."
"Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes."
"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."
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."
"Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit."
"Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everyone in good society holds exactly the same opinion."
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
"Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul."
"The only sin is stupidity."
"Genius is born—not paid."
"Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us."
"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."
"There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating—people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing."

On Success and Failure: Understanding Achievement

Wilde's perspective on success was characteristically unique and often counterintuitive.

"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result."
"The real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial."
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers."
"Ambition is the last refuge of failure."
"I have nothing to declare except my genius."
"Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess."
"I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life."
"The only way to atone for being occasionally a little over-dressed is by being always absolutely over-educated."
"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."
"No good deed goes unpunished."
"The world belongs to those who show up."
"Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot."
"The husbands of very beautiful women belong to the criminal classes."
"Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others."

On Truth and Lies: The Nature of Reality

Wilde had a complex relationship with truth, understanding its malleability and power.

"A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it."
"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
"The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said."
"I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability."
"Most people live for love and admiration. But it is by love and admiration that we should live."
"The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes."
"We are all lying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing."

On Friendship and Relationships: Human Connections

Wilde understood the complexities of human relationships with characteristic insight.

"A true friend stabs you in the front."
"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever."
"True friends stab you in the front."
"I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their intellects."
"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."
"Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship."
"An acquaintance that begins with a compliment is sure to develop into a real friendship."
"Anyone can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success."
"When good Americans die, they go to Paris."
"Enemies are just friends waiting to happen."

On Morality and Ethics: Questions of Right and Wrong

Wilde's approach to morality was nuanced and often challenged conventional thinking.

"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike."
"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written."
"The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely."
"Conscience and cowardice are really the same things. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm."
"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means."
"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."
"Virtue is insufficient temptation."
"The only charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties."
"Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life."

On Time and Age: The Passage of Years

Wilde's observations about time, aging, and mortality were both poignant and witty.

"The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young."
"Youth is wasted on the young."
"The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything."
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable."
"The only way to stay young is to avoid old people."
"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."
"The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional."
"I am too fond of reading books to care to write them."
"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."

Final Wisdom: The Essence of Wilde

These final quotes capture the essence of Oscar Wilde's philosophy and worldview.

"A flower blossoms for its own joy."
"I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us."
"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."
"There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."
"The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."
"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."
"I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible."
"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
"What we have to do, what at any rate it is our duty to do, is to revive the old art of lying."
"The very essence of romance is uncertainty."
"Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence."
"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
"I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life."
"One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead."
"The world is divided into two classes, those who believe the incredible, and those who do the improbable."
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
"The only thing worse than unrequited love is requited love."
"I can resist everything but temptation."
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Conclusion: The Enduring Brilliance of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's quotes continue to captivate readers more than a century after his death because they capture eternal truths about human nature with unmatched wit and elegance. His ability to find profundity in paradox, wisdom in irony, and beauty in contradiction makes his observations as relevant today as they were in Victorian England.

What makes Wilde's quotes so enduring is their perfect balance of depth and accessibility. He could express complex philosophical ideas with the lightness of a feather, making wisdom feel effortless and truth feel delightful. His quotes don't just inform—they entertain, challenge, and inspire.

Wilde understood that life's greatest truths are often found in its contradictions. He showed us that we can be serious about important things while maintaining a sense of humor about ourselves. His quotes remind us that intelligence and wit are not mutually exclusive, that profundity and playfulness can coexist beautifully.

For writers and artists, Wilde's quotes offer insights into the creative process and the relationship between art and life. For those navigating relationships, his observations about love, friendship, and human nature provide both comfort and clarity. For anyone seeking to live more fully, his philosophy encourages authenticity, courage, and an appreciation for life's beautiful absurdities.

Perhaps most importantly, Wilde's quotes remind us not to take ourselves too seriously while still taking life seriously. They encourage us to find our own voice, pursue beauty and truth, and never settle for ordinary when extraordinary is possible.

As Wilde himself said, "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." In a world that often pressures us to conform, his words remind us that our uniqueness is our greatest asset, our individuality our most precious possession.

Oscar Wilde lived as brilliantly as he wrote, and his quotes serve as a roadmap for anyone seeking to add more wit, wisdom, and wonder to their own journey. In the end, perhaps that's the greatest lesson from His Wilde-ness: that life itself can be a work of art if we have the courage to create it.

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