50 quotes
Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete (1854–1900)
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth”
"We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible."
on Life
"Or that passion to act a part that sometimes makes us do things finer than we are ourselves?"
on Creativity
"When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance."
on Love
"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."
"something was dead in each of us,and what was dead was hope."
on Hope
"The only horrible thing in the world is ennui."
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."
on Wisdom
"To realise one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for."
on Self Awareness
"One's past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged."
on Identity
"To become a spectator of one's own life is to escape the suffering of life."
"Memory is the diary we all carry about with us."
"As for believing things, I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible."
on Philosophy
"I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world."
on Ethics
"It is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg."
"A kiss may ruin a human life"
"The loves and sorrows that are great are destroyed by their own plentitude."
"The best way to make children good is to make them happy."
on Happiness
"Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes."
"Experience is the name we give to our mistakes."
"The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional."
on Emotion
