The enigma of the nineteenth century. [ Victor Hugo ]

Death and vulgarity are the only two facts in the nineteenth century that one cannot explain away. [ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey ]

The costume of the nineteenth century is detestable. Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life. [ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey ]

Love in modern times has been the tailor's best friend. Every suitor of the nineteenth century spends more than his spare cash on personal adornment. A faultless fit, a glistening hat, tight gloves, and tighter boots proclaim the imminent peril of his position. [ G. A. Sala ]

Liberty, and not theology, is the enthusiasm of the nineteenth century. The very men who would once have been conspicuous saints are now conspicuous revolutionists, for while their heroism and disinterestedness are their own, the direction which these qualities take is determined by the pressure of the age. [ H. W. Lecky ]

Heroes have gone out; quacks have come in; the reign of quacks has not ended with the nineteenth century. The sceptre is held with a firmer grasp; the empire has a wider boundary. We are all the slaves of quackery in one shape or another. Indeed, one portion of our being is always playing the successful quack to the other. [ Carlyle ]