Formerly we used to canonize our heroes. The modern method is to vulgarize them. Cheap editions of great books may be delightful, but cheap editions of great men are absolutely detestable.

Quote by Oscar Wilde

Topics: Books Quotes

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well...

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well...

The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life...

The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life...

Biography lends to death a new terror.

Biography lends to death a new terror.

There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It is...

There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It is...

The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when...

The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when...

Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.

Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.

True love is like a pair of socks: you gotta have two and they've gotta...

True love is like a pair of socks: you gotta have two and they've gotta...

There is nothing so difficult to marry as a large nose.

There is nothing so difficult to marry as a large nose.

Plain women are always jealous of their husbands. Beautiful women never are. They are always...

Plain women are always jealous of their husbands. Beautiful women never are. They are always...

There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathise with...

There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathise with...

Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing.

Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing.

Hatred is blind, as well as love.

Hatred is blind, as well as love.

One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what...

One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what...

People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live...

People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live...

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

If there is anything in the world more annoying than having people talk about you,...

If there is anything in the world more annoying than having people talk about you,...

As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she...

As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she...

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry,...

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry,...

'Will you retire?' 'When they put me in the grave, I want to have a...

'Will you retire?' 'When they put me in the grave, I want to have a...

Patience and time do more than strength or passion.

Patience and time do more than strength or passion.