When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs.

More from The Picture of Dorian Gray

• A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
• I can’t help detesting my relations. I suppose it comes from the fact that none of us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves.
• Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious; both are disappointed.
• After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.
• 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.
• A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.