Sayings of Oscar Wilde

by Henry Russell

This series collects together the best-known aphorisms, epigrams and reflections of a wide variety of figures from antiquity to our own humorists and novelists, poets and philosophers, politicians and playwrights.

Genres: Classics

64 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 1997

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nihilistic, fatalistic, very misogynistic — also relatively misanthropic, and kind of obtuse.

The only positive thing here really is that "to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." Wilde really did not love himself enough (echoes John Bayley's introduction). The self-hatred is evident, which is fine, given the misanthropy, but there's no point in pretending he was happy at all.

I don't really recommend. Poor soul needs to be left dead in peace. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Lewis Szymanski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the sayings of Oscar Wilde, it's primarily the sayings of Oscar Wilde's characters. If you can't tell the difference between what an author's characters say and believe, and what the author says and believes, you are not going to have a good time with this.

"They say that when good Americans die they go to Paris."
"Really! And where do bad Americans go when they die?"
"They go to America."
-The Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter three

If this book had better quotes and provided better context, I would have given it more stars.

[Sean Haughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll never forget pulling an old copy of The Sayings of Oscar Wilde from a library shelf in my 2nd year at Uni and being out of breath by the time I reached the bottom of the first page. You know its special when you're breathless due to a combination of laughter and awe.

Use this as an introduction to Oscar's works, and a reference point for genius.