This book is an anthology of 230 brilliant quotes and aphorisms from Oscar Wilde and selected facts about Oscar Wilde. It grants his reflections on subjects ranging from Genius to Stupidity; in addition, the book shows the personality of Oscar Wilde into a different, more human light: Oscar Wilde’s mother wanted a girl and often dressed the young Oscar in girls’ clothing. Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray was based on John Gray, an incredibly handsome blond poet that Wilde met in 1889. Oscar Wilde’s mother was a feminist. Oscar Wilde died bankrupt, and his friends could only afford a sixth-class burial. Wilde married Constance Lloyd, daughter of wealthy Queen’s Counsel Horace Lloyd, on May 29, 1884 and had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Wilde’s intimate association with Alfred Douglas led to his trial on charges of homosexuality, then illegal in Britain. He was sentenced two years hard labor for the crime of sodomy. Oscar Wilde changed his name by the time of his death to Sebastian Melmoth. He called himself Sebastien because he loved a portrait of St Sebastien and Melmoth after the book “Melmoth the Wanderer”, which was written by his mother’s uncle. Oscar Wilde’s father had three illegitimate children before he married Jane Francesca Elegee. “I have nothing to declare except my genius.” “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” “I love to talk about nothing. It’s the only thing I know anything about.” “There is no sin except stupidity.” “Some things are too important to be taken seriously.” “Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.” “Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.” “Every woman is a rebel.” “Everything popular is wrong.” “Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.” “The world is a stage and the play is badly cast.” “Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
