Author: Oscar Wilde

Cited by

• Jonas Jonasson (1)
  • IN: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who climbed out of the window and disappeared (2009) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: things are what they are, and whatever will be will be
    FROM: The Soul of Man and Prison Writings, (1990), Book, Ireland
• Scott Fitzgerald (1)
  • IN: The Side of Paradise (1920) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Richard Wright (1)
  • IN: Savage Holiday (1954) Fiction, Novel, British
    EPIGRAPH: For he who sins a second time, wakes a deal soul to pain and draws it from it's spotted shroud, and makes it bleed again and makes it bleed great gouts of blood, and makes it bleed in vain!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• David Lodge (1)
  • IN: The British Museum is Falling Down (1965) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Life imitates art.
    FROM: The Decay of Lying, (1891), Essay, Ireland
• Theophilus Kwek (1)
  • IN: Circle Line (2013) Poetry, Singaporean
    EPIGRAPH: It is simply washing one's clean linen in public.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1899), Play, Ireland
• S. A. Bodeen (1)
  • IN: The Fallout (2013) Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1898), Play, Ireland
• Siobhan Curham (1)
  • IN: The Moonlight Dreamers (2016) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Yes: I am a dreamer: For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
    FROM: The Critic as Artist, (1891), Essay, Ireland
• Diane Duane (2)
  • IN: Games Wizards Play (2016) Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I am not young enough to know everything.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Leila Rasheed (3)
  • IN: Diamonds Deceit (2014) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Always forgive your enemies -- nothing annoys them so much.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
  • IN: Cinders Sapphire (2013) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
  • IN: Cinders Sapphires (2013) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Jamie Bastedo (1)
  • IN: Cut Off (2015) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.
    FROM: NULL, (None), Speech, Ireland
• Lara Zielin (1)
  • IN: The Waiting Sky (2012) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite certain that they mean something else. And that makes me so nervous.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1895), Play, UK
• Tasha Alexander (1)
  • IN: A Fatal Waltz (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Patricia Highsmith (2)
  • IN: Ripley Under Ground (1970) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I think I would more readily die for what I do not believe in than for what I hold to be true... Sometimes I think that the artistic life is a long and lovely suicide, and I am not sorry that it is so.
    FROM: Personal Letters, (1886), Book, Ireland
  • IN: Under Ground (1970) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I think I would more readily die for what I do not believe in than for what I hold to be true... Sometimes I think that the artistic life is a long and lovely suicide, and I am not sorry that it is so.
    FROM: in his personal letters, (1886), Letter, Ireland
• Cecil Castellucci (2)
  • IN: First Day of Earth (2011) Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
    FROM: Lady Windermere's Fan, (1893), Play, Ireland
  • IN: First Day on Earth (2011) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
    FROM: Lady Windermere's Fan, (1893), Play, Ireland
• Gyles Brandreth (1)
  • IN: Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: In Reading gaol by Reading town There is a pit of shame, And in it lies a wretched man Eaten by teeth of flame, In burning winding-sheet he lies, And his grave has got no name. And there, till Christ call forth the dead, In silence let him lie: No need to waste the foolish tear, Or heave the windy sigh: The man had killed the thing he loved, And so he had to die. And all men kill the thing they love, By all let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1897), Poem, Ireland
• Christopher Ross (1)
  • IN: Mishima's Sword (2006) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people.
    FROM: The Decay of Lying, (1891), Essay, Ireland
• Julia Crouch (1)
  • IN: The Long Fall (2014) Fiction, Australian
    EPIGRAPH: Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight For the greatest tragedy of them all Is never to feel the burning light.
    FROM: NULL, (None), Poem, Ireland
• Mary Higgins & Burke, Alafair Clark (1)
  • IN: The Sleeping Beauty Killer (2016) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• Peter Maravelis (1)
  • IN: San Francisco Noir (2005) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: It’s an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Jan Ellison (1)
  • IN: A Small Indiscretion (2014) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion.
    FROM: Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, (1891), Book, Ireland
• India Knight (1)
  • IN: Mutton (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: One should never trust a woma who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that would tell one anything.
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, (1893), Play, Ireland
• Lori Ostlund (1)
  • IN: After The Parade (2015) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: It is an odd thing, but everyone who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Alafair and Clark, Mary Higgins Burke (1)
  • IN: The Sleeping Beauty Killer (2016) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• Margaret Atwood (1)
  • IN: The Robber Bride (1993) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Sophie Loubiere (1)
  • IN: The Stone Boy (2013) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Each of us has haven and hell in him...
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• John le Carré (1)
  • IN: A Delicate Truth (2013) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.
    FROM: Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, (1905), Book, Ireland
• Elizabeth Hand (1)
  • IN: Glimmering (1997) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: “Fin de siecle,” murmured Lord Henry. “Fin du globe,” answered his hostess. “I wish it were fin du globe,” said Dorian with a sigh. “Life is such a great disappointment.”
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Ben Bova (1)
  • IN: The Rock Rats (2002) Fiction, Science Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword! Some kill their love when they are young. And some when they are old; Some strangle with the hands of Lust, Some with the hands of Gold: The kindest use a knife, because The dead so soon grow cold.
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• Lucy & Piazza, Jo Sykes (1)
  • IN: The Knockoff (2015) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Jeanette Walls (1)
  • IN: The Silver Star (2013) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1899), Play, Ireland
• F. Paul Wilson (1)
  • IN: Panacea (2016) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I can believe anything, provided that is it quite incredible.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Michelle Wildgen (1)
  • IN: Bread & Butter (2014) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, (1894), Play, Ireland
• Eva Rice (1)
  • IN: Love Notes for Freddie (2015) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: What a charming boy! I like his hair so much!
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1895), Play, Ireland
• Nora Roberts (1)
  • IN: Dance Upon the Air (2001) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: It is sweet to dance to violins When Love and Life are Fair: To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes Is delicate and rare: But it is not sweet with nimble feet To dance upon the air!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• Stephen White (1)
  • IN: Warning Signs (2002) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest., (1895), Play, Ireland
• Chris Pavone (1)
  • IN: The Expats (2012) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Katherine Hall Page (1)
  • IN: The Body in the Birches (2015) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, (1893), Play, Ireland
• Michael Palin (1)
  • IN: The Truth (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Gertrude, truth is a very complex thing.
    FROM: An Ideal Husband, (1899), Play, Ireland
• Harry Matthews (1)
  • IN: Cigarettes (1987) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: "Let me tell you a story on the subject," said the Linnet. "Is the story about me?" asked the Water-rat. "If so, I will listen to it, for I am extremely fond of fiction."
    FROM: The Devoted Friend, (1888), Novel, Ireland
• Carol McCleary (1)
  • IN: The Alchmey of Murder (2009) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: When good Americans die, they go to Paris.
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, (1893), Play, Ireland
• Epaul Wilson (1)
  • IN: Panacea (2016) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Jen Lancaster (1)
  • IN: The Best of Enemies (2015) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Sally Koslow (1)
  • IN: The late, lamented molly marx (2009) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Philip Kerr (1)
  • IN: Prayer (2013) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.
    FROM: An Ideal Husband, (1899), Play, UK
• F. Scott Fitzgerald (1)
  • IN: This Side of Paradise (1920) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.
    FROM: Lady Windermere's Fan, (1893), Play, Ireland
• Louise Fennell (1)
  • IN: Fame Game (2013) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Jenni Fagan (1)
  • IN: The Panopticon (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her.
    FROM: NULL, (1875), NULL, Ireland
• Vicki Delany (1)
  • IN: Unreasonable Doubt (2016) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: We know not whether laws be right Or whether laws be wrong All we know who lie in gaol Is that the walls are strong And each day is like a year A year whose days are long.
    FROM: "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", (1898), Poem, Ireland
• James Elliott (1)
  • IN: Fearless (2015) Fantasy, American
    EPIGRAPH: A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, UK
• Brian Freemantle (1)
  • IN: Comrade Charlie (1989) Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, British
    EPIGRAPH: Yet each man kills the thing he lovesBy each let this be heard.Some do it with a bitter look,Some with a flattering word.The coward does it with a kiss,The brave man with a sword.
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, UK
• Shaun Hutson (1)
  • IN: Heathen/Nemisis Omnibus (None) Horror fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: ‘Truth is rarely pure, and never simple’
    FROM: The Importance of being Earnest, (1899), Play, Ireland
• Ann Brashares (1)
  • IN: Sisterhood Everlasting (2011) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1898), Play, Ireland
• Jennifer Finney Boylan (1)
  • IN: Long Black Veil (2017) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1898), Play, Ireland
• Will Self (1)
  • IN: Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys (1998) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Life is a dream that keeps me from sleeping
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Henry Louis Mencken (1)
  • IN: Ventures into Verse (1903) Poetry, American
    EPIGRAPH: Don't shoot the pianist; he's doing his best.
    FROM: Personal Impressions of America, (1883), Book, Ireland
• Marcel Proust (1)
  • IN: In Search of Lost Time (1920) Fiction, French
    EPIGRAPH: In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.
    FROM: A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated, (1894), Article, Ireland
• Paulo Coelho (1)
  • IN: Aleph (2010) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: Thou knowest all--I cannot see. I trust I shall not live in vain, I know that we shall meet again, In some divine eternity.
    FROM: The True Knowledge, (1876), Poem, Ireland
• Erin Morganstern (1)
  • IN: The Night Circus (2011) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
    FROM: The Critic as Artist, (1891), Essay, Ireland
• Patricia Scanlan (1)
  • IN: Mirror Mirror (1997) Fiction, Irish
    EPIGRAPH: Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
    FROM: The Ballad of Reading Gaol, (1898), Poem, Ireland
• Brandy Purdy (2)
  • IN: The Secrets of Lizzie Borden (2016) Historical Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants. The other is getting it.
    FROM: Wilde, (1997), Film, Ireland
  • IN: The Queen’s Rivals (2013) Historical Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest, (1898), Play, Ireland
• Holly Peterson (2)
  • IN: It Happens in the Hamptons (2017) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.”
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, (1893), Play, Ireland
  • IN: Happens in the Hamptons (2017) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Ireland
• Elliott James (1)
  • IN: Fearless (2015) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Megan Goldin (1)
  • IN: The Girl in Kellers Way (2017) Fiction, Australian
    EPIGRAPH: The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
    FROM: The Importance of Being Earnest", (1895), Play, Ireland
• Tonya Hurley (1)
  • IN: Ghostgirl (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland
• Brian Freeman (1)
  • IN: Alter Ego (2018) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: Know you? I wonder do I know you? Before I could answer that, I should have to see your soul.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, UK
• Samantha Hayes (1)
  • IN: in too deep (2016) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvellous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, UK
• Meg Howrey (1)
  • IN: The Freedom Broker (2017) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.
    FROM: A Woman of No Importance, Act IV, (1893), Play, UK
• Armistead Maupin (1)
  • IN: Tales of the City (1978) Novel, American
    EPIGRAPH: It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco.
    FROM: The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890), Novel, Ireland