Oscar Wilde

"A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent pleasure. I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, p105

Women and love:

"The one charm of the past is that it is the past. But women never know when the curtain has fallen. They always want a sixth act, and as soon as the interest of the play is entirely over they propose to continue it. If they were allowed their own way, every comedy would have a tragic ending, and every tragedy would culminate in a farce."  Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. p99