Buckle up, lovers of wit and wisdom, as we embark on a literary adventure filled with “Aesthetic Oscar Wilde Quotes” that will illuminate your path and enrich your day. The enchanting world of Oscar Wilde—a legendary writer, playwright, and aesthete of the late 19th century—was indeed a spectacular blend of profound wisdom, sardonic humor, and a unique perspective on life. The aesthetic flair of Wilde's words transcends the limitations of time and still resonates with contemporary sensibilities. His quotes are not merely words; they are art imbued with timeless truth.
Picture the flamboyant, ever-eloquent Wilde, known as much for his extravagant lifestyle as for his literary prowess. Did you know that he once quipped, “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best”? It's an example of Wilde's ability to merge aestheticism with wit, a testament to the compelling essence of his character, perfectly encapsulated in these “Oscar Wilde Quotes”. We invite you to dive deep into this collection of fifty hand-picked expressions from the maestro himself, each quote a reflection of Wilde's aesthetic sensibility, his biting wit, and his distinctive perspective on life and art.
Wilde's Wit & Wisdom
1. “I can resist everything except temptation.”
2. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
3. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
4. “Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”
5. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
6. “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
7. “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”
8. “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
9. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
10. “I have nothing to declare except my genius.”
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The Essence of Aestheticism
- “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
- “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”
- “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
- “Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.”
- “One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”
- “The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”
- “An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
- “Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.”
- “A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament.”
- “All art is quite useless.”
Love & Relationships Through Wilde's Eyes
- “Who, being loved, is poor?”
- “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
- “Men always want to be a woman's first love – women like to be a man's last romance.”
- “The heart was made to be broken.”
- “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
- “Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.”
- “Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.”
- “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”
- “Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.”
- “The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.”
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On Society & Individualism
- “Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.”
- “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
- “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
- “The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.”
- “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.”
- “Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.”
- “Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.”
- “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
- “Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both.”
- “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
The Aesthetics of Life & Death
- “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
- “Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow.”
- “I am not young enough to know everything.”
- “Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself.”
- “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.”
- “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”
- “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
- “The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.”
- “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”
- “I can never write such things as they are. I write them as they ought to be.”
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