Oscar Wilde

playwright · Ireland · Britain · 1854–1900

London's most popular playwright, then a prisoner for two years. De Profundis is the long letter he wrote in that prison.

Posts

1891

All art is quite useless.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, preface

1892

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Lord Darlington

1892

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Dumby

1892

I can resist everything except temptation.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 1, spoken by Lord Darlington

1892

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Dumby

1892 · In answer to the question "What is a cynic?"

A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Lord Darlington

1895 · A line spoken by Algernon in the comedy

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1

1895

I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.

The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 2, spoken by Gwendolen

1895

Memory, my dear Cecily, is the diary that we all carry about with us.

The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 2, spoken by Miss Prism

1897

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

De Profundis, the letter written in Reading Gaol

1897

Where there is sorrow there is holy ground. Some day people will realise what that means. They will know nothing of life till they do

De Profundis, the letter written in Reading Gaol