Every English major has an author that they are irrationally in love with. Personally, I adore Oscar Wilde. His personality, his life, and of course his writing have always interested me. I’ve tried to learn a little bit more about Wilde and in my research, I found a bunch of quotes that are breathtaking. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Death must be so beautiful
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Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace. You can help me. You can open for me the portals of death’s house, for love is always with you, and love is stronger than death is.
- With freedom, books, flowers…
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With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon who could not be happy?
- Yes; I am a dreamer
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Yes; I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world
- I don’t want to be…
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I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.
- There are moments…
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There are moments when one has to choose between living one’s own life, fully, entirely, completely-or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.
- You can never be…
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You can never be overdressed or overeducated.
- It takes a great deal of courage…
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It takes a great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.
Oscar Wilde’s words have such a wistful and humorous tone that takes my breath away every time I read them. Whenever I need a laugh, a spark of inspiration or even just a tool to mend boredom I’m happy to know that Wilde’s works are always close by.