The Picture of Dorian Gray

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

艺术家是美的创造者。艺术的目的在于揭示艺术本身，同时隐藏艺术家。评论家则是将他对美的印象转化为另一种方式或新材料的人。

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

批评的最高境界和最低境界都是自传式的表达方式。那些在美好的事物中发现丑陋含义的人，既堕落又缺乏魅力。这是一种缺陷。

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

那些在美好的事物中发现美好意义的人，是具有修养的人。对他们而言，希望犹存。他们是天选之人，对他们来说，美好的事物仅仅意味着美。

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

世上没有所谓道德或不道德的书。书只有写得好或写得差之分。仅此而已。

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

十九世纪人们对现实主义的厌恶，就像卡利班在镜子里看到自己的脸时那样愤怒。

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.

十九世纪人们对浪漫主义的厌恶，就像卡利班在镜子里看不到自己的脸一样令人愤怒。人类的道德生活是艺术家创作的主题之一，但艺术的道德却在于对不完美媒介的完美运用。

No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.

没有哪个艺术家想要证明什么。即使是真理，也可以被证明。没有哪个艺术家会怀有道德上的同情心。艺术家的道德同情心是一种不可饶恕的风格怪癖。没有哪个艺术家是病态的。艺术家可以表达一切。

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art. From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician.

思想和语言是艺术家创作艺术的工具；恶习和美德是艺术家创作艺术的素材；从形式上看，所有艺术的原型都是音乐的艺术。

From the point of view of feeling, the actor’s craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.

从情感角度来看，演员的技艺就是类型。所有艺术既是表象又是象征。试图探究表象之下的人会面临危险。解读象征意义的人也会面临危险。

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

艺术真正反映的并非生活本身，而是观者。对一件艺术作品的不同评价表明，这件作品新颖、复杂且充满活力。当评论家意见相左时，艺术家反而与自己内心达成了一致。

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

只要一个人不欣赏自己制作的东西，我们就可以原谅他制作有用的东西。而制作无用的东西，唯一的借口就是他强烈地欣赏它。

All art is quite useless.

所有艺术都是毫无用处的。

OSCAR WILDE

奥斯卡·王尔德