'Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much'

At Hampstead Theatre, we’ve selected some of our favourite Oscar Wilde lines in preparation for David Hare’s The Judas Kiss which opens 6 September. If your favourite is missing please feel free to contribute to the list by uploading your quote via the comment feature at the bottom:

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Always forgive your enemies, nothing will annoy them so much.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.

To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first requisites of sanity.

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

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.