A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

愤世嫉俗者是一个知道所有东西的价格、却不知道它们的价值的人。

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

梦想家只能在月光下找到自己的路，他的惩罚是第一个看见黎明。

A little sincerity¹ is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.

不够真诚是危险的，太真诚则绝对是致命的。

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

一个人在选择他的敌人时，再小心也不为过。

A poet can survive everything but a misprint.

一个诗人什么都可以容忍，印刷错误除外。

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

所有女人都会变得像她们的母亲一样，这是女人的悲剧。但没有男人变得像他们的父亲，这是男人的悲剧。

Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.

永远要宽恕你的敌人。没有什么比这更能让他们心烦的了。

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence² without civilization in between.

美国是唯一一个直接从野蛮进入颓废、中间没有经过文明阶段的社会。

Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.

要避免争论，争论总是俗不可耐，而且常常令人信服。

As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly³ satisfied.

只要一个女人看上去比她自己的女儿小十岁，她就一定会心满意足。

Bad artists always admire each other's work.

糟糕的画家总是欣赏彼此的作品。

Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.

男女之间不可能存在友谊，有的只是爱恨情仇。

Conscience and cowardice⁴ are really the same things.

良心和怯懦其实是一回事。

Dammit sir, it's your duty to get married. You can't be always living for pleasure.

该死，先生，结婚是你的职责，你不能总是逍遥快活。

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.

民主就是指人民用人民的大头棒打击人民。

Don't give a woman advice; one should never give a woman anything she can't wear in the evening.

不要给女人忠告；决不要给女人任何她晚上不能穿戴的东西。

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

教育是一件可敬的事，但要时刻牢记，没有什么值得知道的事是教得会的。

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

经验是一个人给自己所犯的错误取的名字。

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

时装丑陋得完全令人无法容忍，以至于我们必须每6个月就改变它的样式。

How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.

女人如何能期望会从男人那里获得幸福，如果他坚持把她当作一个完全正常的人。

I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people don't talk politics.

我喜欢政治晚会，这是唯一人们不谈政治的地方。

I am not young enough to know everything.

我还没有年轻到什么都懂的地步。

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I’m saying.

我简直太聪明了，有时连我自己都不知道自己在说什么。

I can resist everything except temptation.

我可以抗拒一切，诱惑除外。

I have made an important discovery…that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication⁵.

我有一个重大发现——如果摄入足量酒精，就会产生各种陶醉的效果。

I like talking to a brick wall, it's the only thing in the world that never contradicts me.

我喜欢对一堵墙说话，世界上只有它不会反驳我。

I love acting⁶. It is so much more real than life.

我喜欢演戏。与人生相比，演戏更真实。

I often take exercise. Why only yesterday I had breakfast in bed.

我经常锻炼。只是昨天我是在床上吃的早饭。

I think that God, in creating Man, somewhat overestimated⁷ his ability.

我想，上帝在创造人类时高估了他的能力。

I was working on the proof of one of my poems all morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.

我整个早上都在校对自己的一首诗，我去掉了一个逗号。下午我又把它加了上去。