The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

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

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.

The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone to whom one has just been introduced is almost unbearable.

To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.