Oscar Wilde

'It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself' Wilde's celebrated witticisms on the dangers of sincerity, duplicitous biographers, the stupidity of the English - and his own genius. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast

ㅤrizki

To believe is very dull. To doubt is intensely engrossing. To be on the alert is to live, to be lulled into security is to die.

“When a man has once loved a woman, he will do anything for her, except continue to love her.”

as someone who hates marriage, i agree 😁🫵🏻

“The proper basis for marriage is a mutual misunderstanding.”

“Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.”

“One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.”

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

“To become a work of art is the object of living.”

“Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed.”

Wilde's celebrated witticisms on the dangers of sincerity, duplicitous biographers, the stupidity of the English – and his own genius.

Sam Skurka

We teach people how to remember, we never teach

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

Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether

in marriage or in friendship, is conversation...

Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions.

There are two ways of disliking art... One is to dislike it. The other, to like it rationally.

For what is Truth? In matters of religion, it is simply the opinion that has survived. In matters of science, it is the ultimate sensation. In matters of art, it is one's last mood.

Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing.

You forget that a thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.

All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.

Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. Fortunately, in England at any rate, thought is not catching.

I have made an important discovery... that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.

Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

But what is the good of friendship if one cannot say exactly what one means? Anybody can say charming things and try to please and to flatter, but a true friend always says unpleasant things, and does not mind giving pain. Indeed, if he is a really true friend he prefers it, for he knows that then he is doing good.

The only form of fiction in which real characters do not seem out of place is history.

America has never quite forgiven Europe for having been discovered somewhat earlier in history than itself.

Isabella 

a quick witty and thought-provoking read. kinda ridiculous at times, but i loved and enjoyed it. oscar wilde the original tumblr and twitter user!

Kendall McClain

A very short and pretentious read. I ate up every word until he started talking about women. I do not care that misogyny was normal in his time I’m reading it in my time and I hate it!!! Stick to talking about men Mr. Wilde you excel at that- but besides the sexism I love her lol

Doris Ivandic 

Witty, intelligent and honest! I really enjoyed this read. 
“Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing”

Archiell

Oscar wilde would have liked the old Twitter 😭

this is the first time i’ve read a philosophical book and i did not expect it enjoy it that much !?

it felt like i was reading the thoughts of oscar wilde, + despite being philosophical, it was still an easy read. 

this book didn’t have one solid topic, it revolved around one’s self and tackles marriage, friendships, morals, love, the rich and the poor, etc.

he made really good points, and the book just kept me hooked because i felt like i was reading as fast as i was thinking; i felt like i was in someone’s brain. 😭

solid 4 stars ! ! ! oscar ate with this one 🙏🏻

“One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.”

woah.

this is the first time i’ve read a philosophical book and i did not expect it enjoy it that much !?

it felt like i was reading the thoughts of oscar wilde, + despite being philosophical, it was still an easy read. 

this book didn’t have one solid topic, it revolved around one’s self and tackles marriage, friendships, morals, love, the rich and the poor, etc.

he made really good points, and the book just kept me hooked because i felt like i was reading as fast as i was thinking; i felt like i was in someone’s brain. 😭

solid 4 stars ! ! ! oscar ate with this one 🙏🏻

I'm well aware that Wilde mentioned that “a critic should be taught to criticize a work of art without making any reference to the personality of the author”. However, this book is a compilation of many quotations from his writings, which means it has nothing but his personality.

The impression he gave me was that he was a man full of contradictions and had a distorted vision of many topics such as work, life, and marriage. However, I can't quite say this for sure since, being those aphorisms quoted from other pieces, they're also out of context. Many phrases I've read in The Picture of Dorian Gray I've found not reasonable but, when detached from the text it was first written, I came to find some sense in it—and vice versa.

It's undeniable that Wilde had his way with words and a gift to see depth where's superficial

. Besides, many of his sayings keep on contemporary, which makes it still worth reading and recommending (and I certainly do so, in case you're wondering). For this, I salute his works. I can't say this book has the font for all knowledge in the world but, according to the man himself,

 “nothing that is worth knowing can be taught”.

addie

Now Art shows you'd never try to be popular. The public should try to make itself artistic.

I'm well aware that Wilde mentioned that “a critic should be taught to criticize a work of art without making any reference to the personality of the author”. However, this book is a compilation of many quotations from his writings, which means it has nothing but his personality.

The impression he gave me was that he was a man full of contradictions and had a distorted vision of many topics such as work, life, and marriage. However, I can't quite say this for sure since, being those aphorisms quoted from other pieces, they're also out of context. Many phrases I've read in The Picture of Dorian Gray I've found not reasonable but, when detached from the text it was first written, I came to find some sense in it—and vice versa.

It's undeniable that Wilde had his way with words and a gift to see depth where's superficial. Besides, many of his sayings keep on contemporary, which makes it still worth reading and recommending (and I certainly do so, in case you're wondering). For this, I salute his works. I can't say this book has the font for all knowledge in the world but, according to the man himself, “nothing that is worth knowing can be taught”.

macky

Rien

i have two sides:
"to love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance" or "my existence is a scandal"

It was really intresting, haven’t read about how he wrote this but it felt like he just sat down every random thought on any day and just put them together. I liked it, some things he says are really cool.

Ester Waclavova

Wilde

Much easier to read than Nietzsche's aphorisms

Elisa Benaggoune

I eat everything Oscar Wilde writes and I love hearing his words of consciousness and philosophies in a little tiny book that speaks a lot on life, pleasure and general philosophy.

alex

i wish i could bang my head against a wall so hard that i forgot all about this book and thus i’d be able to read and experience it for the first time again. oscar wilde definitely had a lot to say. most things i agree with, some others i don’t, but reading this made me ponder, and being alone with one’s thoughts is, besides a scary feat, one of the most awakening acts of the soul. i’ve annotated most part of this book cementing my views on the world and differing or wholeheartedly agreeing with wilde, and that time spent with myself has been the most enjoyable i’ve had in a long while. for that, i’m thankful. because of that, i’ll probably be returning to this book in the future and doing it all over again. there are so just many truths hiding beneath the surface of wilde’s words. in the end, “are there not books that can make us live more in one single hour than life can make us live in a score of shameful years?”

lena

Pien van Nunen

P. Rose

Oscar Wilde is one of the most amusing writers i have ever read

Vittoria Vespoli 

Oscar Wilde is a whole slay 

And this is basically if he had Twitter. Loads of fun. 

Romanticizing. Underlining everything.

mayra

i am aware that this is a collection of random ass quotes but it‘s still better than a lot of the books ive read. wilde has me in a chokehold i can’t explain it😁👍🏻
but the quotes are awesome. nothing i wouldnt expect from wilde. funny and charming as always. plus a bit of classicism👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

This definitely isn't a one time read for me. I found this to be hilarious and incredibly entertaining as well as eye opening and thought provoking. It feels like getting a glimpse at Oscar Wilde's mind and thoughts, filled with ideas and issues that still seem just as significant, if not more so, well over a hundred years later.

Lyndsey McIntyre 

It was the perfect book to read, with a cup of tea and when you were in need of a laugh. It is clear the Oscar Wilde has a good sense of humor.

Domizia Margagnoni

Brilliant collection of Wilde’s most famous quotes. It’s almost impossible to choose a favourite. His witticism was extraordinary

Kieran Wood

Fantastic short book with a collection of Wilde's lines on everything from art to prison.

Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast

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