The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.
Oscar Wilde

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
Oscar Wilde

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
Oscar Wilde

The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.
Oscar Wilde

The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.
Oscar Wilde

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.
Oscar Wilde

The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.
Oscar Wilde

The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world.
Oscar Wilde

The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.
Oscar Wilde

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.
Oscar Wilde

The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
Oscar Wilde

The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.
Oscar Wilde

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.
Oscar Wilde

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.
Oscar Wilde

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Oscar Wilde

The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is charging a great deal too much for it.
Oscar Wilde

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
Oscar Wilde

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Oscar Wilde

The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.
Oscar Wilde