Quote 13
"I am not laughing, Dorian; at least I am not laughing at you. But you should not say the greatest romance of your life. You should say the first romance of your life. You will always be loved, and you will always be in love with love. A grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do. That is the one use of the idle classes of a country. Don't be afraid. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning." (4.10)
At this early stage, Dorian still retains some of his boyish innocence – something that Lord Henry strives to take away from him.
Quote 14
The girl never really lived, and so she has never really died. To you at least she was always a dream, a phantom that flitted through Shakespeare's plays and left them lovelier for its presence, a reed through which Shakespeare's music sounded richer and more full of joy. The moment she touched actual life, she marred it, and it marred her, and so she passed away. Mourn for Ophelia, if you like. Put ashes on your head because Cordelia was strangled. Cry out against Heaven because the daughter of Brabantio died. But don't waste your tears over Sibyl Vane. She was less real than they are." (8.17)
Sibyl's innocence is so complete it renders her life a kind of unreal experience. Here, Lord Henry tries to convince Dorian that because she was so inexperienced and ill-equipped for the world, Sibyl in fact never lived at all. This logic seems more than a bit dodgy to us.
Quote 15
"I quite sympathize with the rage of the English democracy against what they call the vices of the upper orders. The masses feel that drunkenness, stupidity, and immorality should be their own special property, and that if any one of us makes an ass of himself, he is poaching on their preserves. When poor Southwark got into the divorce court, their indignation was quite magnificent. And yet I don't suppose that ten per cent of the proletariat live correctly." (1.18)
Lord Henry's half-serious, all-snobby comment on the difference in morality between the upper and lower classes demonstrates his overall belief: that morality and ethics are all arbitrary bunk.