“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
Work
**The Picture of Dorian Gray** is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical *Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine*. The novel-length version was published in April 1891. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray))
Quotes
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Oscar Wilde
Canonical work source
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these ther...”
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”
“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
“To define is to limit.”
“I am too fond of reading books to care to write them.”
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”
“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
“When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.”
“Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”
“Never marry at all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired, women, because they are curious: both are disappointed.”
“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
“The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”
“Women have no appreciation of good looks-at least, good women have not.”
“Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything else.”
“As for being poisoned by a book, there is no such thing as that. Art has no influence upon action. It annihilates the desire to act. It is superbly sterile. The books that the world calls im...”
“Punctuality is the thief of time.”
“To have ruined one's self over poetry is an honor”
“You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius a...”
“The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.”
“Even things that are true can be proved.”
“It would kill the past, and when that was dead, he would be free.”