Lord Illingworth. Only two kinds in society: the plain and the coloured.
Gerald. But there are good women in society, aren’t there?
Lord Illingworth. Far too many.
Gerald. But do you think women shouldn’t be good?
Lord Illingworth. One should never tell them so, they’d all become good at once. Women are a fascinatingly wilful sex. Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself.
Gerald. You have never been married, Lord Illingworth, have you?
Lord Illingworth. Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed.
Gerald. But don’t you think one can be happy when one is married?
Lord Illingworth. Perfectly happy. But the happiness of a married man, my dear Gerald, depends on the people he has not married.
Gerald. But if one is in love?