"One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that would tell one anything."
"There are moments when art attains almost to the dignity of manual labor."
"The best one can say of modern creative art is that it is just a little less vulgar than reality."
"We have been able to have fine poetry in England because the public do not read it, and consequently do not influence it. The public like to insult poets because they are individual, but once they have insulted them, they leave them alone."
"Who am I to tamper with a masterpiece?"
"CECILY. When I see a spade I call it a spade./ GWENDOLEN. I am glad to say I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different."
"It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn't a dentist. It produced a false impression."
"It is sweet to dance to violins/ When Love and Life are fair:/ To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes/ Is delicate and rare:/ But it is not sweet with nimble feet/ To dance upon the air."
"He was a hero to his valet, who bullied him, and a terror to most of his relations, whom he bullied in turn. Only England could have produced him, and he always said that the country was going to the dogs. His principles were out of date, but there was a good deal to be said for his prejudices."
"The modern sympathy with invalids is morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others."