Though of all poses a moral pose is the most offensive, still to have a pose at all is something.

It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America when they have their mothers and their manners.

I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left. ALGERNON: We have. JACK: I should extremely like to meet them. What do they talk about? ALGERNON: The fools? Oh! about the clever people of course. JACK: What fools.

I feel that if I kept it secret it might grow in my mind (as poisonous things grow in the dark) and take its place with the other terrible thoughts that gnaw me

Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualification.

The only form of fiction in which real characters do not seem out of place is history. In novels they are detestable.

Progress in thought is the assertion of individualism against authority.