The Picture of Dorian Gray

"There's no shame in pleasure. Man just wants to be happy. But society wants him to be good. And when he's good, he's rarely happy. But when he's happy, he's always good."

"Women, as a witty Frenchman put it, inspire us with the desire to do masterpieces and always prevent us from carrying them out."

"I choose my friends carefully."

"But adoring someone is certainly better than being adored. Being adored is a nuisance. You'll discover, Dorian, that women treat us just as humanity treats its gods. They worship us and keep bothering us to do something for them."

"One of the great secrets of life. Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense and discover too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes."

"No civilized man ever regrets a pleasure, and no uncivilized man ever knows what a pleasure is."

"If only it was the picture who was to grow old, and I remain young. There's nothing in the world I wouldn't give for that. Yes, I would give even my soul for it."

"I suppose in a fortnight or so, we shall be told he's been seen in San Francisco. It's an odd thing, but everyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world."