Some good Oscar Wilde quotes:
“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.” (From The Picture of Dorian Gray)
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”
“No great artist ever sees things as they are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”
“I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” (from The Picture of Dorian Gray)
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
“Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.” (from The Picture of Dorian Gray)
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
I love quotes, and I think these are pretty good indicators of what Oscar Wilde was like and what he valued. Wilde loved art and beauty, and was considered “different” in Victorian times. He dressed flamboyantly and drew attention to himself, often controversially. There’s a very short bio on Wilde at the beginning of Dorian Gray, but I think it’s worth reading more on him if you get the chance…here are a few good biographies I found:
Victorian Visual Culture 
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