Oscar Wilde

“ In all important matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out. Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness. It is only by not paying one's bills that one can hope to live in the memory of the commercial classes. No crime is vulgar, but all vulgarity is crime. Vulgarity is the conduct of others. Only the shallow know themselves. Time is a waste of money. One should always be a little improbable. ”

“ If the poor only had profiles there would be no difficulty in solving the problem of poverty. Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither. A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between Art and Nature. Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions. The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance. Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness. In all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. ”

“ Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure. There is something tragic about the enormous number of young men there are in England at the present moment who start life with perfect profiles, and end by adopting some useful profession. To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance. ”