“I am afraid it is quite clear, Cecily, that neither of us is engaged to be married to any one.“
“At this present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins.“
“I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance..“
“It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It produces a false impression..“
“very essence of romance is uncertainty..“
“It is a very ungentlemanly thing to read a private cigarette case. Algernon. Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read. Jack. I am quite aware of the fact, and I don’t propose to discuss modern culture. It isn’t the sort of thing one should talk of in private..“
“Algernon. The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility! Jack. That wouldn’t be at all a bad thing. Algernon. Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don’t try it. You should leave that to people who haven’t been at a University. They do it so well in the daily papers..“
“Jack. [In a very patronising manner.] My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!.“
“I was obliged to call on dear Lady Harbury. I hadn’t been there since her poor husband’s death. I never saw a woman so altered; she looks quite twenty years younger..“
“it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t..“
“No married man is ever attractive except to his wife..“
“LADY BRACKNELL: It is my last reception, and one wants something that will encourage conversation, particularly at the end of the season when every one has practically said whatever they had to say, which, in most cases, was probably not much.“
“Exploded! Was he the victim of a revolutionary outrage? I was not aware that Mr. Bunbury was interested in social legislation. If so, he is well punished for his morbidity..“
“it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read..“
“Do you smoke? Jack. Well, yes, I must admit I smoke. Lady Bracknell. I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind..“
“A misanthrope I can understand—a womanthrope, never!.“
“My dear fellow, it isn’t easy to be anything nowadays..“
“Cecily: Oh, yes. Dr. Chasuble is a most learned man. He has never written a single book, so you can imagine how much he knows..“
“Cecily is the sweetest, dearest, prettiest girl in the whole world. And I don’t care twopence about social possibilities..“
“In matters of great importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing..“
“When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me..“
“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them..“
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple..“
“in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt with. Girls don’t think it right..“
“really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact..“
“I don’t think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn’t know what to talk to him about..“
“The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to some one else, if she is plain.“
“Well, one must be serious about something, if one wants to have any amusement in life..“
“Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square..“
“The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square..“
“Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd.“
“Only relatives, or creditors, ever ring in that Wagnerian manner..“
“Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. .“
“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his..“
“I keep a diary in order to enter the wonderful secrets of my life. If I didn’t write them down, I should not probably forget all about them.“
“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing..“
“Cecily. [To Gwendolen.] That certainly seems a satisfactory explanation, does it not? Gwendolen. Yes, dear, if you can believe him. Cecily. I don’t. But that does not affect the wonderful beauty of his answer. Gwendolen. True. In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.“
“Gwendolen. How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! Where questions of self-sacrifice are concerned, men are infinitely beyond us.“
“When I see a spade I call it a spade..“
“Lady Bracknell. To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.“
“My dear fellow, it isn’t easy to be anything nowadays. There’s such a lot of beastly competition about..“
“Jack. Gwendolen, it is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth. Can you forgive me?.“
“Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Health is the primary duty of life. I.“
“if one plays good music, people don’t listen, and if one plays bad music people don’t talk.“