So much had been surrendered! And to such little purpose! There had been mad wilful rejections, monstrous forms of self-torture and self-denial, whose origin was fear and whose result was a degradation infinitely more terrible than that fancied degradation from which, in their ignorance, they had sought to escape.

The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork.

Cecily. This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade. Gwendolen. [Satirically.] I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different.

Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.

Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure.

I must remember that a good friend is a new world.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.