The Truth Is Rarely Pure And

Spoken by Algernon in Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest, which premiered at the St. James's Theatre on February 14, 1895 — Wilde's most celebrated work. The line is a direct response to Jack's claim that he is telling "the whole truth pure and simple," to which Algernon retorts: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!" The joke carries an edge: Wilde was living a double life at the time, and was arrested for gross indecency just months after the play opened.