Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world.”
- Date
- 1891
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Lord Henry Wotton
Meaning of “I like persons better than principles, and I…”
Lord Henry pushes his preference for people over abstract morality into deliberate absurdity, making provocation itself part of the humor.
Where does it come from?
The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 edition, Chapter 1; Lord Henry tells Basil that he likes persons better than principles and extends the joke to people with no principles.
Why the local voice matters
Lord Henry voices this paradox in The Picture of Dorian Gray; it remains character dialogue rather than Wilde’s direct ethical position.
