Oscar Wilde1854–1900We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act IIIA man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act IIILife is one fool thing after another where as love is two fool things after each other.
It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But it is better to be good than to be ugly.
Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), A Woman of No Importance (1893), Act IIIIn contextWoman begins by resisting a man’s advances and ends by blocking his retreat.
- A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated (1894)
- De Profundis (1897)
Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
“The Philosophy of Dress”, The New-York Tribune, 1885. For an analysis see Fashion a Form of Ugliness, oscarwildeinamerica.org (retrieved 9 May 2026)To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)A man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act IIn context
Often credited to Oscar Wilde
Quotes often credited to Oscar Wilde that were said or written by someone else.
