Quotables: Oscar Wilde

Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation, Oscar Wilde became one of the most well-known personalities of his day. It was his only novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - still widely read - that brought him more lasting recognition. He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six.

1. Genius is born -- not paid.

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

3. Work is the curse of the drinking classes.

4. I can resist anything but temptation.

5. There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

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

7. Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

8. A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction.

9. Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

10. I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability.

11. Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

12. Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.

13. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

14. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

15. Women are made to be loved, not understood.