There is the despot who
tyrannises
over the soul.
Oscar Wilde - Poetry
There is no such thing as an omen.
Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.
Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.
Love art for its own sake and then all things that you need will be
added to you. This devotion to beauty and to the creation of beautiful
things is the test of all great civilisations; it is what makes the life
of each citizen a sacrament and not a speculation.
It is always worth while asking a question, though it is not always
answering one.
It takes a thoroughly good woman to do a thoroughly stupid thing.
With a proper background women can do anything.
Chiromancy is a most dangerous science, and one that ought not to be
encouraged, except in a 'tete-a-tete. '
One should never take sides in anything. Taking sides is the beginning
of sincerity, and earnestness follows shortly afterwards, and the human
being becomes a bore.
The work of art is beautiful by being what art never has been; and to
measure it by the standard of the past is to measure it by a standard on
the reflection of which its real perfection depends.
There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannises
over the body.
There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul. There
is the despot who tyrannises over soul and body alike. The first is
called the prince. The second is called the pope. The third is called
the people.
Costume is a growth, an evolution, and a most important, perhaps the
most important, sign of the manners, customs, and mode of life of each
century.
I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic
to be in love, but there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal.
Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement
is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
What consoles one nowadays is not repentance but pleasure. Repentance is
quite out of date.
Ideals are dangerous things. Realities are better.