Oscar Wilde (18541900)

The Irish poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde wrote some of the
finest comedies in the English language: Lady Windermere's
Fan', published in 1892, A Woman of No Importance' (1893),
An Ideal Husband' (1895), and the ever-popular The
Importance of Being Earnest' (1895). He was a great
conversationalist and a man of wide learning, but his life ended
in disgrace and poverty.
Wilde was born on Oct. 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. He was
educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Trinity College
in Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He then settled in
London, where in 1884 he married Constance Lloyd. They had
two sons. He published his early poetry, wrote book reviews,
and edited the journal Woman's World. His only novel, The
Picture of Dorian Gray' (1891), was severely criticized as
immoral. He had the ability to take conventional plots and turn
them into brilliant comedies by his witty dialogue. In the classic
The Importance of Being Earnest', the plot and the dialogue are
equally fantastic.
In 1891 Wilde began an ill-fated friendship with Lord Alfred
Douglas, whose father objected violently to Wilde. Wilde sued
the father for libel. The case collapsed, and Wilde himself was
arrested for homosexual offenses under the Criminal Law
Amendment Act of 1895. Wilde was found guilty and sentenced
on May 25, 1895, to two years at hard labor. He recounted his
prison experience in The Ballad of Reading Gaol' (1898). After
his release he left England, never to return. He divided his time

between France and Italy, living in comparative poverty. But he

continued to delight a small circle of friends with his
conversation. Except for letters, he made no attempt to resume
writing. He died in Paris on Nov. 30, 1900.
(190689). Unheroes grope their way through a surrealistic
world in Samuel Beckett's plays and novels. Beckett, Irish by
birth, wrote mostly in French, yet maintained an incomparable
style when he translated his works into English.

Quotes from Oscar Wilde:

"Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it."
A poet can survive everything but a misprint.
I am not young enough to know everything.

There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what
one wants, and the other is getting it.

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

I can resist everything except temptation.

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an
idea at all.

I have nothing to declare except my genuis.

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish
how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

When good Americans die they go to Paris.

Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils,

chooses both.

Women are made to be loved, not understood.

"You give the criminal calendar of Europe to your children
under the name of history."

"Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge

them. Rarely, if ever do they forgive them."

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No

man does. That's his."
"I should imagine that most mothers don't quite understand their
sons."
We attract what we love & what we fear.

America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it

had always been hushed up.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking
others to live as one wishes to live.
The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature
perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.
The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never
any use to oneself.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being
talked about.

Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so
much.

America is the only country that went from barbarism to

decadence without civilization in between.