Oscar Wilde explains Men and Women - take II

"Gerald - But haven't women got a refining influence?
Lord Illingworth - Nothing refines but the intellect.
Gerald - Still, there are many different kinds of women, aren't there?
Lord Illingworth - Only two kinds in society: the plain and the coloured.
Gerald - But there are good women in society, aren't there?
Lord Illingworth - Far too many.
Gerald - But do you think that women shouldn't be good?
Lord Illingworth - One should never tell them so, they'd all become good at once. Women are a fascinatingly wilful sex. Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself.
Gerald - You have never been married, Lord illingworth, have you?
Lord Illingworth - Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. They both get disappointed.
Gerald - But don't you think that one can be happy when one is married?
Lord Illingworth - Perfectly happy. But the happiness of a married man, my dear Gerald, depends on the people he has not married.
Gerald - But if one is in love?
Lord Illingworth - One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.
Gerald - Love is a very wonderful thing, isn't it?
Lord Ilingworth - When one is in love, ne begins by deceiving oneself. And one ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance. But a really grande passion is comparatively rare nowadays. It is the privilege of people who have nothing to do."

by Oscar Wilde in A Woman Of No Importance