Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless. … -So you think that it is only God who sees the soul, Basil? Draw that curtain back, and you will see mine.“- -“You are mad, Dorian, or playing a part,“ -muttered Hallward. -“You w