The criminal classes are so close to us that even the policemen can see them...

...They are so far away from us that only the poet can understand them.

The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious...

...The result is the Criticism of the Journalist.

Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.

Those whom the gods love grow young.

Dandyism is the assertion of the absolute modernity of Beauty.

To be really mediæval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes.

The word practical is nearly always the last refuge of the uncivilized. Of all misused words it is the most evilly treated.

It is what one looks at, not what one listens to, that makes the artist. The real schools should be the streets.

The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy.

The only link between Literature and Drama left to us in England at the present moment is the bill of the play.

In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.

One should never listen. To listen is a sign of indifference to one's hearers.

Most women are so artificial that they have no sense of Art. Most men are so natural that they have no sense of Beauty.

Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer.

Even the disciple has his uses. He stands behind one's throne, and at the moment of one's triumph whispers in one's ear...

... that, after all, one is immortal.

What is abnormal in Life stands in normal relations to Art. It is the only thing in Life that stands in normal relations to Art.

A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection.