Tag Archives: Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

10 Quotes about Fate from Literature

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Quotes About Fate

It is never quite safe to think we have done with life. When we imagine we have finished our story fate has a trick of turning the page and showing us yet another chapter. ~ Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. ~ Invictus by William Ernest Henley

You pay for what you get, you own what you pay for… and sooner or later whatever you own comes back home to you. ~ It by Stephen King

We are merely the stars’ tennis-balls, struck and banded Which way please them. ~ The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

Were we no better than chessmen, moved by an unseen power, vessels the potter fashions at his fancy, for honour or for shame? ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare

Fortune’s a right whore: If she give aught, she deals it in small parcels, That she may take away all at one swoop. ~ The White Devil by John Webster

But often the great cat Fate lets us go only to clutch us again in a fiercer grip. ~ The Curse of Eve by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It is curious to look back and realize upon what trivial and apparently coincidental circumstances great events frequently turn as easily and naturally as a door on its hinges. ~ Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard

“This whole act’s immutably decreed. ‘Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates’ lieutenant; I act under orders.” ~ Moby Dick by Herman Melville

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7 Literary Quotes about Destiny

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Quotes about DestinyHistory is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again. ~ A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin

Can we outrun the heavens? ~ Henry VI, Part Two by William Shakespeare

Were we no better than chessmen, moved by an unseen power, vessels the potter fashions at his fancy, for honour or for shame? ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

Destiny has a constant passion for the incongruous. ~ The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

But often the great cat Fate lets us go only to clutch us again in a fiercer grip. ~ The Curse of Eve by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“This whole act’s immutably decreed. ‘Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates’ lieutenant; I act under orders.” ~ Moby Dick by Herman Melville

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!” ~ A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

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20 Funny Quotes from Literature

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Funny Quotes from Literature

“To win back my youth, Gerald, there is nothing I wouldn’t do—except take exercise, get up early, or be a useful member of the community.” ~ A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde

“I always say beauty is only sin deep.” ~ Reginald by Saki

It is the necessary nature of a political party in this country to avoid, as long as it can be avoided, the consideration of any question which involves a great change. ~ Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast. ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

“Prophecy is like a half-trained mule,” he complained to Jorah Mormont. “It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head.” ~ A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

You can’t expect the fatted calf to share the enthusiasm of the angels over the prodigal’s return. ~ Reginald by Saki

Fox terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs are. ~ Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Discovering that priests were infinitely more attentive when she was in process of losing or regaining faith in Mother Church, she maintained an enchantingly wavering attitude. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“This looks like one of those unwelcome social summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie.” ~ The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.” ~ An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

In one respect at least the Martians are a happy people; they have no lawyers. ~ A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

“I discovered early that crying makes my nose red, and the knowledge has helped me through several painful episodes.” ~ The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

In all the thousands of times I have asked other people for advice, I never yet got the advice I wanted. ~ Armadale by Wilkie Collins

A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience. ~ Strictly Business by O. Henry

Mrs. Bittacy rustled ominously, holding her peace meanwhile. She feared long words she did not understand. Beelzebub lay hid among too many syllables. ~ The Man Whom the Trees Loved by Algernon Blackwood

“Unbidden guests
Are often welcomest when they are gone.” ~ Henry VI, Part One by William Shakespeare

The bishop did not whistle: we believe that they lose the power of doing so on being consecrated. ~ The Warden by Anthony Trollope

What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get upset over. ~ Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

I don’t want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible. ~ Dolly Dialogues by Anthony Hope

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The World is a Stage Quote Photo

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The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast. ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde Quote

 

I’ve posted this quote photo on the LitQuotes Facebook page, the LitQuotes Twitter feed as well as the LitQuotes Google Plus page to make it easy to share.

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Five Quotes from Literature about Experience

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Yesterday we added experience quotes as a topic.  Here are five of my favorites from the collection.

Experience Quotes

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.” ~ Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde

“Thanks to his constant habit of shaking the bottle in which life handed him the wine of experience, he presently found the taste of the lees rising as usual into his draught.” ~ The Ambassadors by Henry James

How is it that the poets have said so many fine things about our first love, so few about our later love? Are their first poems their best? Or are not those the best which come from their fuller thought, their larger experience, their deeper-rooted affections? ~ Adam Bede by George Eliot

A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience. ~ The Professor at the Breakfast Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“No, I am not at all cynical, I have merely got experience, which, however, is very much the same thing.” ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

See Entire Experience Quote Collection

 

 

New Quotes Added – Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell and More

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NewQuotesI hope you all had a nice weekend.   I spent some of my spare time adding new quotes to the database.  Here are some of my favorites.  AND if you have a quote that you’d like to see added, feel free to contribute a quote.

The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast. ~ Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Oscar Wilde

History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness. ~ The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

What is the meaning of life? That was all–a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark. ~ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

10 Interesting Facts About Oscar Wilde

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Oscar Wilde


What you Probably Know

Oscar Wilde was an Irish author, playwright and poet. He’s remembered for his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray as well was other works. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890s.  He was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin.  He died on November 30, 1900 in Paris.

 What you May Not Know
  1. His full name was Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.
  2. His father, William Wilde, was an acclaimed doctor.  He was knighted for his work as medical adviser for the Irish censuses.  William Wilde founded St. Mark’s Ophthalmic Hospital to treat the city’s poor.
  3. An early romantic interest of Oscar Wilde was Florence Balcombe.  She eventually became the wife of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.
  4. In 1882 Wilde began a lecture tour of North America. The subject was Aestheticism, a movement that celebrated beauty and art.   During the tour Wilde meet with some of the leading American literary figures of the day, including Henry Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Walt Whitman.
  5. Wilde  married Constance Lloyd on May 29, 1884.  The couple had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan.
  6. In 1891 Wilde met Lord Alfred Douglas.   They became lovers.  Alfred’s father was  John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.  The elder Douglas did not approve of his son’s relationship.  Feuding between John Douglas and Wilde eventually led to Wilde being convicted of “gross indecency” for homosexual acts.  Wilde was sentenced to  two years of hard labor.
  7. Despite Wilde’s preference for men and the social scandal caused by his trial and imprisonment, Wilde and his wife never divorced.  However Constance did change her and her sons’ last name to Holland.
  8. After his release from prison in 1897 Wilde left England and  moved to France.  He stayed there until his death.
  9. Wilde wrote plays and short stories, but only one novel.  His only novel is The Picture of Dorian Gray.
  10. Wilde died of meningitis on November 30, 1900. He was only 46 years old.

Novel by Oscar Wilde

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)

Partial List of Short Stories by Oscar Wilde

  • Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories (1891) Including The Canterville Ghost first published in periodical form in 1887.

Partial List of Plays by Oscar Wilde

  • The Duchess of Padua (1883)
  • Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)
  • A Woman of No Importance (1893)
  • An Ideal Husband (1895)
  • The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

Quotes by Oscar Wilde