It was the first rift in my father’s sanctity, it was the first nick in the pillars on which my childish life had rested, and which every human being must destroy before he can become himself. It is of these experiences, invisible to everyone, that the inner, essential line of our destiny consists. That kind of rift and nick closes over again, it is healed and forgotten, but in the most secret chamber of the mind it continues to live and bleed. Demian

We may, indeed, indulge in sport and jest, but in the same way as we enjoy sleep or other relaxations, and only when we have satisfied the claims of our earnest, serious task On Duties

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. The Happy Prince

My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. The importance of Being Earnest