The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they
forgive them.
‘A Woman of No Importance’ (1893) act 2
Gerald: I suppose society is wonderfully delightful!
Lord Illingworth: To be in it is merely a bore. But to be out of it simply a tragedy.
‘A Woman of No Importance’ (1893) act 3
You should study the Peerage, Gerald...It is the best thing in fiction the English have ever done.
‘A Woman of No Importance’ (1893) act 3
No publisher should ever express an opinion of the value of what he publishes. That is a matter
entirely for the literary critic to decide...A publisher is simply a useful middle-man. It is not for
him to anticipate the verdict of criticism.
Letter in ‘St James’s Gazette’ 28 June 1890
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.
‘Sebastian Melmoth’ (1905) p. 12. Oscariana (1910) p. 8
Voulez-vous savoir le grand drame de ma vie? C’est que j’ai mis mon gènie dans ma vie; je
n’ai mis que mon talent dans mes oeuvres.
Do you want to know the great drama of my life? It’s that I have put my genius into my life; all
I’ve put into my works is my talent.
Spoken to Andrè Gide, in Gide ‘Oscar Wilde: In Memoriam’
I have nothing to declare except my genius.
Said at the New York Custom House, in F. Harris ‘Oscar Wilde’ (1918) p. 75
‘Will you very kindly tell me, Mr Wilde, in your own words, your viewpoint of George
Meredith?’
‘George Meredith is a prose Browning, and so is Browning.’
‘Thank you. His style?’
‘Chaos, illumined by flashes of lightning.’
In Ada Leverson ‘Letters to the Sphinx’ (1930) ‘Reminiscences’ 1
There seems to be some curious connection between piety and poor rhymes.
In E. V. Lucas (ed.), ‘A Critic in Pall Mall’ (1919) ‘Sententiae’
Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
In H. Pearson ‘Life of Oscar Wilde’ (1946) ch. 12
He has fought a good fight and has had to face every difficulty except popularity.
Unpublished character sketch of W. E. Henley written for Rothenstein’s English Portraits. W. Rothenstein
‘Men and Memories’ vol. 1, ch. 25
He [Bernard Shaw] hasn’t an enemy in the world, and none of his friends like him.
Shaw ‘Sixteen Self Sketches’ ch. 17
Ah, well, then, I suppose that I shall have to die beyond my means.
Said when a huge fee for an operation was mentioned, in R. H. Sherard ‘Life of Oscar Wilde’ (1906) p. 421
11.85 Billy Wilder (Samuel Wilder) 1906—