Located on a corner of Merrion Square Park in Dublin is Oscar Wilde's statue striking an appropriately irreverent pose.
Oscar Wilde quotes have been enjoyed for over a century now and I suspect they'll be enjoyed for many centuries more.
Witty, wise and often irreverent, usually blasting through pretension and pomposity, always getting to the heart of what it means to be a thinking person or one with whom it is worth spending time, the quotes of Oscar Wilde offer both entertainment and reasons to pause and consider one's choices in daily life.
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On my recent trip to Dublin I went to the Oscar Wilde Memorial sculpture which is located in Merrion Square Park. Time must be spent at the memorial enjoying and mulling over the Oscar Wilde quotes written on pillars.
11 Oscar Wilde Quotes
Oscar Wilde, born in 1854, was given the name Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde at birth. He was a novelist, playwright, essayist and poet. He is probably best known for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray ($1.53 for Kindle version that can be read on any device) and his play The Importance of Being Earnest ($.99 on Kindle or watch the movie with Colin Firth). Born to intellectual and well-off parents, he went to Trinity College in Dublin and then Oxford. He was also gay and while enjoying significant success as a writer he was tried and convicted for gross indecency and imprisoned for two years of hard labor. Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on 30 November 1900 at the age of 46. (Read his biography for more.)
Below are images of Oscar Wilde quotes that I took at the memorial one rainy Dublin day.
Beauty has as many meanings as a man has moods.
It seems to me we all look at nature too much and live with her to little.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.
Who, being loved, is poor?
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.
Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
Most people are other people.
Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.
The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
The cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple and the simple thing is the right thing.