I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.

Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.

He was a hero to his valet, who bullied him, and a terror to most of his relations, whom he bullied in turn. Only England could have produced him, and he always said that the country was going to the dogs. His principles were out of date, but there was a good deal to be said for his prejudices.

To be really mediæval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes.

Nothing is good in moderation. You cannot know good in anything until you have torn the heart out of it by excess.

It is sometimes said that the tragedy of an artist's life is that he cannot realise his ideal. But the true tragedy that dogs the steps of most artists is that they realise their ideal too absolutely. For, when the ideal is realised, it is robbed of its wonder and its mystery, and becomes simply a new starting-point for an ideal that is other than itself.

Society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef.