“The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.”

— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

About Oscar Wilde

1854 – 1900

Irish poet and playwright renowned for his razor-sharp wit, flamboyant style, and tragic life. Author of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest.

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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

— Oscar Wilde

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

— Oscar Wilde

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

— Oscar Wilde

“At times it seems to me that I am living my life backwards, and that at the approach of old age my real youth will begin.”

— André Gide

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

— C.S. Lewis

“The compensation of a very early success is a conviction that life is a romantic matter. In the best sense one stays young.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

“No man loves life like him that's growing old.”

— Sophocles

“Age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress.”

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.”

About Oscar Wilde

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