“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde · The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” — Oscar Wilde · Intentions, 1891
“The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to someone else, if she is plain.” — Oscar Wilde · The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” — Oscar Wilde · The Soul of Man Under Socialism, 1891
“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” — Oscar Wilde · attributed, widely documented
“The books one reads in childhood, and perhaps most of all the bad and good bad books, create in one's mind a sort of false map of the world.” — Oscar Wilde · De Profundis, 1905
“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” — Oscar Wilde · Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892