ALGERNON. The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility! JACK. That wouldn’t be at all a bad thing.

More from Oscar Wilde

• After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.
• A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.
• A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies.
• A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
• Appearance blinds, whereas words reveal.
• A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.