The quotations of

Oscar Wilde

Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete

1854–1900

173 quotes, most often on Marriage, Love and Comedy. Part of the Writers and Poets collections.

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 context
- Marriage
A man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act IIn context
- Marriage
Ultimately the bond of all companionship, wheather in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
- Friendship
- Marriage
Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
- Marriage
No man should have a secret from his wife; she invariably finds out.
- Marriage
When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)In context
An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act IIn context
- Marriage
You seem to forget that I am married, and the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Chapter IIn context
- Marriage
- Truth & Lies
I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), First Act, spoken by AlgernonIn context
- Love
- Marriage
Divorces are made in Heaven
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), First Act, spoken by AlgernonIn context
- Comedy
- Marriage
The amount of women in London who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous. It looks so bad. It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), First Act, spoken by AlgernonIn context
- Comedy
- Marriage
In married life three is company and two is none.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), First Act, spoken by AlgernonIn context
- Marriage
To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Third Act, spoken by Lady BracknellIn context
- Character
- Marriage

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