Everyone knew when Oscar Wilde left the court that he left it a ruined and disgraced man.

Was it worth while to stir up all the foul mud again, in order to beat the beaten?
Alas! the English are pedants, as Goethe saw; they think little of literary men, or of merely spiritual achievements.

They love to abide by rules and pay no heed to exceptions, unless indeed the exceptions are men of title or great wealth, or "persons of importance" to the Government.

The majority of the people are too ignorant to know the value of a book and they regard poetry as the thistle-down of speech.

It does not occur to Englishmen that a phrase may be more valuable and more enduring in its effects than a long campaign and a dozen victories.