I'm afraid I have to be a nitpicker again here. I've checked Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Peter's Quotations, The Cynic's Lexicon, and The Portable Curmudgeon. Oscar Wilde has a place of honor in all of them, but in none is he credited with the remark about America going directly from barbarism to decadence. That remark is attributed (by Bartlett, Peter, and The Portable Curmudgeon) to Georges Clemenceau, who, being French, is not qualified to compete as a "Brit Wit."
Wilde did, however, say, "The Americans are certainly great hero-worshippers, and always take their heroes from the criminal classes."
I'm astonished that Samuel Johnson didn't make it into the top ten.-----
Those who believed the laws of physics made things "possible" or "impossible" were mistaken. Time travel violated one of those laws. Physics took its *revenge*.
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
Wilde did, however, say, "The Americans are certainly great hero-worshippers, and always take their heroes from the criminal classes."
I'm astonished that Samuel Johnson didn't make it into the top ten.-----
Those who believed the laws of physics made things "possible" or "impossible" were mistaken. Time travel violated one of those laws. Physics took its *revenge*.
-----
Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.