Source identified
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
Voice: Fictional character · Lord Henry Wotton
The line is a deliberately seductive paradox rather than practical advice, expressing the character’s philosophy of appetite and indulgence.
Source note: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890 Lippincott magazine text, Chapter 2; Lord Henry states the temptation paradox while influencing Dorian in Basil Hallward’s garden.
Source identified
“We’re all mad here.”
Voice: Fictional character · Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat turns abnormality into a shared condition, humorously questioning who gets to define what counts as normal.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6.
Source identified
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
Voice: Fictional character · Alice
The playful exclamation captures the feeling of encountering a world that keeps becoming stranger than the rules used to explain it.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2.
Source identified
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Voice: Fictional character · Polonius
The line praises compression: saying less can sharpen meaning when the words that remain do real work.
Source note: Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; Polonius says this while promising the King and Queen he will be brief, immediately before continuing at comic length. The dramatic irony is part of the line’s context.
Source identified
“Angry people are not always wise.”
Voice: Narrator voice · Narrator
Strong emotion can narrow judgment, so being certain while angry is not the same as being correct.
Source note: Pride and Prejudice; the line is preserved in the novel’s dialogue about anger, judgment, and the limits of certainty while emotions are high.
Source identified
“Well done is better than well said.”
Franklin gives execution priority over impressive promises or intentions.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack.