Mr. Erskine Quotes

"Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered," said Mr. Erskine. "I myself would say that it had merely been detected."

– Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 3. Wilde was fond of taking potshots at America and Americans. Mr. Erskine says this to the Duchess of Harley at Aunt Agatha’s party, when she expresses the wish that America had never been discovered.

Must we really see Chicago in order to be educated.

– Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 3. Mr. Erskine’s witty response when Aunt Agatha’s guest Sir Thomas Burdon says that it is an education to visit America.

Well, the way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test reality we must see it on the tight rope. When the verities become acrobats, we can judge them.

– Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 3. Mr. Erskine is commenting on the paradoxes of Lord Henry. Wilde publicly stated that Henry’s character was a representation of the way the public saw him. In Chapter 17 Dorian says of Lord Henry, "His name is Prince Paradox."

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