THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY O.W.
“I WANT THE DEAD LOVERS OF THE WORLD TO HEAR OUR LAUGHTER, AND GROW SAD.”
“PEOPLE ARE VERY FOND OF GIVING AWAY WHAT THEY NEED MOST THEMSELVES.”
“EXPERIENCE WAS OF NO ETHICAL VALUE. IT WAS MERELY THE NAME MEN GAVE THEIR MISTAKES.”
“I SHUDDER AT THE THOUGHT OF BEING FREE.”
“I NEVER TAKE ANY NOTICE OF WHAT COMMON PEOPLE SAY, AND I NEVER INTERFERE WITH WHAT CHARMING PEOPLE DO.”
“TO BE GOOD IS TO BE IN HARMONY WITH ONE’S SELF.”
“BUT, SURELY, IF ONE LIVES MERELY FOR ONE’S SELF, HARRY, ONE PAYS A TERRIBLE PRICE FOR DOING SO? SUGGESTED THE PAINTER.
“YES WE ARE OVERCHARGED FOR EVERYTHING NOWADAYS. I SHOULD FANCY THAT THE REAL TRAGEDY OF THE POOR IS THAT THEY CAN AFFORD NOTHING BUT SELF-DENIAL. BEAUTIFUL SINS, LIKE BEAUTIFUL THINGS, ARE THE PRIVILEGE OF THE RICH.”
“ONE HAS TO PAY IN OTHER WAYS BUT MONEY.”
“WHAT SORT OF WAYS, BASIL?”
“OH! …IN REMORSE, IN SUFFERING … IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF DEGRADATION.”
“MY DEAR FELLOW, MEDIAEVAL ART IS CHARMING, BUT MEDIAEVAL EMOTIONS ARE OUT OF DATE.”
“I KNOW WHAT PLEASURE IS, CRIED DORIAN GRAY. IT IS TO ADORE SOME ONE.”
“THAT IS CERTAINLY BETTER THAT BEING ADORED. BEING ADORED IS A NUISANCE. WOMEN TREAT US JUST AS HUMANITY TREATS ITS GODS. THEY WORSHIP US, AND ARE ALWAYS BOTHERING US TO DO SOMETHING FOR THEM.”
“DONT TALK LIKE THAT ABOUT ANY ONE YOU LOVE, DORIAN. LOVE IS A MORE WONDERFUL THING THAN ART.”
“THEY ARE BOTH SIMPLY FORMS OF IMITATION.”
“THERE IS A LUXURY IN SELF-REPROACH. WHEN WE BLAME OURSELVES WE FEEL THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS A RIGHT TO BLAME US.”
“SOME ONE HAS KILLED HERSELF FOR LOVE OF YOU. I WISH THAT I HAD EVER HAD SUCH AN EXPERIENCE. IT WOULD HAVE MADE ME IN LOVE WITH HER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE…THAT AWFUL MEMORY OF WOMAN! WHAT A FEARFUL THING IT IS. AND WHAT AN UTTER INTELLECTUAL STAGNATION IT REVEALS! ONE SHOULD ABSORB THE COLOUR OF LIFE, BUT ONE SHOULD NEVER REMEBER ITS DETAILS. DETAILS ARE ALWAYS VULGAR.”
“YOU MUST NOT TELL ME ABOUT THINGS. WHAT IS DONE IS DONE. WHAT IS PAST IS PAST.”
“YOU CALL YESTERDAY THE PAST?”
“WHAT HAS THE ACTUAL LAPSE OF TIME GOT TO DO WITH IT? IT IS ONLY SHALLOW PEOPLE WHO REQUIRE YEARS TO GET RID OF AN EMOTION. A MAN WHO IS MASTER OF HIMSELF CAN END SORROW AS EASILY AS HE CAN INVENT A PLEASURE. I DONT WANT TO BE AT THE MERCY OF MY EMOTIONS. I WANT TO USE THEM, TO ENJOY THEM, AND TO DOMINATE THEM.”
“AND MIND YOU DONT TALK ABOUT ANYTHING SERIOUS. NOTHING IS SERIOUS NOWADAYS. AT LEAST NOTHING SHOULD BE.”
“YOU ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW WHAT ONE HAS BEEN DOING. I ALWAYS WANT TO FORGET WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING.”
“UGLINESS THAT HAD ONCE BEEN HATEFUL TO HIM BECAUSE IT MADE THINGS REAL, BECAME DEAR TO HIM NOW FOR THAT VERY REASON. UGLINESS WAS THE ONE REALITY. THE COARSE BRAWL, THE LOATHSOME DEN, THE CRUDE VIOLENCE OF DISORDERED LIFE, THE VERY VILENESS OF THIEF AND OUTCAST, WERE MORE VIVID, IN THEIR INTENSE ACTUALITY OF IMPRESSION, THAN ALL THE GRACIOUS SHAPES OF ART, THE DREAMY SHADOWS OF SONG.”
“EACH MAN LIVED HIS OWN LIFE, AND PAYED HIS OWN PRICE FOR LIVING IT. THE ONLY PITY WAS ONE HAD TO PAY SO OFTEN FOR A SINGLE FAULT. ONE HAD TO PAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN, INDEED. IN HER DEALINGS WITH MAN DESTINY NEVER CLOSED HER ACCOUNTS.”
“I NEVER QUARREL WITH ACTIONS. MY ONE QUARREL IS WITH WORDS. THAT IS THE REASON I HATE VULGAR REALISM IN LITERATURE. THE MAN WHO COULD CALL A SPADE A SPADE SHOULD BE COMPELLED TO USE ONE. IT IS THE ONLY THING HE IS FIT FOR.”
“ROMANCE LIVES BY REPETITION, AND REPETITION CONVERTS AN APPETITE INTO AN ART. BESIDES, EACH TIME THAT ONE LOVES IS THE ONLY TIME ONE HAS EVER LOVED. DIFFERENCE OF OBJECTS DOES NOT ALTER SINGLENESS OF PASSION. IT MERELY INTENSIFIES IT. 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.”
“IF A MAN TREATS LIFE ARTISTICALLY, HIS BRAIN IS HIS HEART.”
“DO YOU FEEL QUITE SURE OF THAT, DORIAN?”
“QUITE SURE.”
“THEN IT MUST BE AN ILLUSION. THE THINGS ONE FEELS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN ABOUT ARE NEVER TRUE. THAT IS THE FATALITY OF FAITH, AND THE LESSON OF ROMANCE.”
“THE ONLY PEOPLE TO WHOSE OPINIONS I LISTEN NOW WITH ANY RESPECT ARE PEOPLE MUCH YOUNGER THAN MYSELF. THEY SEEM IN FRONT OF ME. LIFE HAS REVEALED TO THEM HER LATEST WONDER. “
“AS FOR THE AGED, I ALWAYS CONTRADICT THE AGED. I DO IT ON PRINCIPLE. IF YOU ASK THEM THEIR OPINION ON SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY, THEY SOLEMNLY GIVE YOU THE OPINIONS CURRENT IN 1820, WHEN PEOPLE WORE HIGH STOCKS, BELIEVED IN EVERYTHING, AND KNEW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.”
“AS FOR BEING POISONED BY A BOOK THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THAT. ART HAS NO INFLUENCE UPON ACTION. IT ANNIHILATES THE DESIRE TO ACT. IT IS SUPERBLY STERILE. THE BOOKS THAT THE WORLD CALLS IMMORAL ARE BOOKS THAT SHOW THE WORLD ITS OWN SHAME.”
‘A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE’ O.W.
“WHAT DO YOU CALL A BAD MAN? THE SORT OF MAN WHO ADMIRES INNOCENCE.”
“WHAT DO YOU THINK SHE’D DO IF I KISSED HER? EITHER MARRY YOU, OR STRIKE YOU ACROSS THE FACE WITH HER GLOVE. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF SHE STRUCK YOU ACROSS THE FACE WITH HER GLOVE? FALL IN LOVE WITH HER PROBABLY.”
“I NEVER INTEND TO GROW OLD. THE SOUL IS BORN OLD BUT GROWS YOUNG. THAT IS THE COMEDY OF LIFE. AND THE BODY IS BORN YOUNG AND GROWS OLD. THAT IS LIFE’S TRAGEDY.”
“WELL, I WILL TELL YOU, IF YOU SOLEMNLY PROMISE TO TELL EVERYBODY ELSE.”
“MEN ALWAYS WANT TO BE A WOMANS FIRST LOVE. THAT IS THEIR CLUMSY VANITY. WE WOMEN HAVE A MORE SUBTLE INSTINCT ABOUT THINGS. WHAT WE LIKE IS TO BE A MAN’S LAST ROMANCE.”
“TO WIN BACK MY YOUTH, GERALD, THERE IS NOTHING I WOULDNT DO- EXCEPT TAKE EXERCISE, GET UP EARLY, OR BE A USEFUL MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY.”
“WHEN ONE IS IN LOVE ONE BEGINS BY DECEIVING ONESELF. AND ONE ENDS BY DECEIVING OTHERS. THAT IS WHAT THE WORLD CALLS A ROMANCE.”
“THE SECRET OF LIFE IS NEVER TO HAVE AN EMOTION THAT IS UNBECOMING. THE SECRET OF LIFE IS TO APPRECIATE THE PLEASURE OF BEING TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY DECEIVED.”
“ALL THOUGHT IS IMMORAL. ITS VERY ESSENCE IS DESTRUCTION. IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING, YOU KILL IT. NOTHING SURVIVES BEING THOUGHT OF.”
“THERE IS NO SECRET OF LIFE. LIFE’S AIM, IF IT HAS ONE, IS SIMPLY TO BE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TEMPTATIONS.”
‘LORD ARTHUR SAVILE’S CRIME’ O.W.
“ACTORS ARE SO FORTUNATE. THEY CAN CHOOSE WHETHER THEY WILL APPEAR IN TRAGEDY OR IN COMEDY, WHETHER THEY WILL SUFFER OR MAKE MERRY, LAUGH OR SHED TEARS. BUT IN REAL LIFE IT IS DIFFERENT. MOST MEN AND WOMEN ARE FORCED TO PERFORM PARTS FOR WHICH THEY HAVE NO QUALIFICATIONS… THE WORLD IS A STAGE, BUT THE PLAY IS BADLY CAST.”
“AND YET IT WAS NOT THE MYSTERY, BUT THE COMEDY OF SUFFERING THAT STRUCK HIM; ITS ABSOLUTE USELESSNESS, ITS GROTESQUE WANT OF MEANING.”
