oscar wilde

I could live inside the 1952 film, The Importance of Being Earnest, just to enjoy the language that surpasses all others.

Lady Bracknell says to her daughter, Gwendolyn, “You are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to someone, I or your father – should his health permit him – will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come upon a girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself.”

Lady Bracknell says to Mr. Worthing, Gwendolyn's suitor, “I have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get married should either know everything or nothing. Which do you know?”

“I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.”

“I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tempers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate, exotic fruit. Touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately, in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatever. Are your parents living?”

“I have lost both my parents.”

“To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”