Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde Book

Wilde has such a gift with phrasing, I always think about how parallel he seems to me with Ryan Adams. So many accolades so early, then such a fever to tear him apart.

Here's a few quotes:

A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.

A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.

Biography lends to death a new terror.

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.

Genius is born--not paid.

I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones.

I am not young enough to know everything.

I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.

One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.