More than 1000 ripostes, paradoxes, and epigrams on sin, society, genius, wealth, men, women, religion, America, education, and smoking: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes," "I can resist everything except temptation," etcetera. Also excerpts from his trial testimony, where the tragedy implicit in Wilde's humor is nowhere more vivid.

More than 1,000 ripostes, paradoxes, wisecracks: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes," "I can resist everything except temptation," etc.

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Oscar Wilde is one of the most quoted and quotable men in history. He once boasted that he could talk spontaneously on any subject, a claim effortlessly borne out by the range and scope of the examples collected in this book. It is an entertaining, instructive, and revealing look at a man who is unlikely ever to be forgotten. "Oscar Wilde," wrote Richard Ellmann, "we have only to hear the great name to anticipate that what will be quoted as his will surprise and delight us. His wit is an agent of renewal, as pertinent now as a hundred years ago."

Amusing, thought-provoking epigrams, aphorisms, and other jests from the plays, essays, and lively conversation of Oscar Wilde offer a feast of humorous and profound quips. Nearly 400 quotes.

I Can Resist Everything Except Temptation is a celebration of the virtuoso of well-turned phrases and the master of the studied insult - Oscar Wilde. Indeed, so perfect were Wilde's verbal thrusts that his victims were often flattered to have been the cause of them. His needle-sharp rejoinders were repeated with delight - not least by Wilde himself, who took an artist's pride in his work. Yet for all that, his jibes were rarely cruel, for behind them lay great warmth of character, generosity of spirit, and a profound understanding of human life and its vanities. This book shows us why, more than a hundred years after his death, people of every age and from all walks of life are still drawn to Wilde's dazzling repartee and the wicked brilliance of his social observations, while his plays and stories continue to entertain and enthral succeeding generations.