Paradoxer och aforismer av Oscar Wilde

Ur en mycket gammal bok, i vårt lager av antikvariska böcker, föll häromdagen ett papper ut med en ytterst svag text. En kopia gjord med gammaldags spritduplicering som ger en ljusblå text.

Det visade sig vara en text av Oscar Wilde, som någon kopierat kanske för en bokcirkel länge sedan. Jag lyckades läsa texten och skriva ned den på nytt. Paradoxer och aforismer av Oscar Wilde. Det är sannolikt utdrag ur de många böcker han skrev, men väl värda att läsa även i dag.

Paradoxes and aphorisms by Oscar Wilde

I can resist everything except temptation.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

Experience is the name everyone gives  to their mistakes.

Morality is simply the attitude  we adopt towards people which we personally dislike.

One should always play fairly…when one has the winning cards.

To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.

Mrs A: Define us as a sex.

Lord I: Sphinxes without secrets.

A: You prefer to be natural?

B: Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.

Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.

I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.