My last read was “The picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. Suggested and given to me Raghu, this was one interesting read.

The book takes you through the life of Dorian, a handsome youth who wishes never to grow old. This particular wish of his comes true, his soul resides in one of his portraits, So the portrait grows old while he remains young forever. A very interesting character in the book, is Lord Henry. A person with a completely different approach to life, and an out of the ordinary philosophy.(which can be debated,extensively) his influence on Dorian that makes Dorian live a narcissistic life filled with selfish deeds-without thinking defining them as good or bad  ,keeping his youth as a shield for all his deeds.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” ― Oscar Wilde, 
And this book is brilliantly written. There are long conversations and descriptions that are poetic and pleasing to read. 


Few of my favourite quotes:

/There was purification in punishment, not “Forgive us our sins” but “smite us for our iniquities” should be the prayer of man to a most just god./
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knowledge is fatal. it is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful./
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In the common world of fact the wicked were not punished,nor the good rewarded. Success was given to the strong, failure thrust upon the weak./
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Women love us for our defects. if we have enough of them they will forgive us everything, even our intellects./
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My dear fellow, you forget we live in the native land of the hypocrite./
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A dream of form in days of thought./

Harmony of body and soul- we in our madness have separated the two.
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when one is in love,one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. that is what the world calls a romance. /

To get back ones youth one merely has to commit ones felonies.

/When a woman marries again, it is because she detested he first husband, when a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck, men risk theirs. /

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There is one question which arises while reading this book: What would you do, if you had your youth forever????