On this date in the distant 1854, Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin - an Irish playwright, writer and poet. In memory of the great creator, we decided to take a look and recall some of the most daring, scandalous and ahead-of-his-time thoughts of the creator, shared in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - the work with which Wilde earned his fame as a modern writer, writes woman.bg.
It is here that the author allows himself to voice for the first time some of his rather bold ideas, which shocked his contemporaries. We have selected for you the most paradoxical quotes of this philosopher, aesthete and writer about the most important values of people.
“There are no moral and immoral books. There are well-written and badly-written books. That is“, wrote Oscar Wilde in the preface to his novel. “The Picture of Dorian Gray“ has earned scandalous fame, harsh criticism from critics and contradictory reviews from readers of that time - but this did not prevent the novel from becoming a classic in English (and world) fiction.
On beauty and aesthetics
“…I feel sympathy for everything except human suffering. I cannot sympathize with it. It is too ugly, too terrible and oppresses us. There is something extremely unhealthy in the universal sympathy for suffering. We should experience the beauty, the bright colors and joys of life. And talk as little as possible about its dark sides.“
„…Of all the artists I have known, only the untalented were charming people. The talented live through their works and are therefore uninteresting in themselves. The great poet - really the great - always turns out to be a completely prosaic person. And the second-rate ones are extremely charming. The weaker their poems, the more effective their appearance and manners. If a person has published a collection of mediocre sonnets, I can immediately say that he is absolutely irresistible in person. He puts into his life that poetry that he is unable to put into his poems. And poets of the other kind pour out on paper the poetry they do not have the courage to translate into their lives.“
„…Those who find evil in beauty are corrupt people, and their corruption does not make them attractive. This is a great sin.“
„…Behind beauty there is always some tragedy. For even the humblest flower to bloom, worlds must experience birth pangs.“
On Youth and Old Age
„…The tragedy of old age is not that one grows older, but that one remains young at heart.“
„…The pulse of joy that beats so strongly at 20 weakens, the body becomes stiff, the sensations die out. We turn into disgusting puppets with indelible memories of the passions we feared too much – and for the temptations to which we dared not give in.“
„…To bring back youth, you only have to repeat all its follies.“
„…So take advantage of your youth before it is gone. Do not waste your golden days in vain, listening to boring preachers, do not try to fix the irreparable, do not devote your life to ignorant, vulgar and insignificant people, following the deceptive ideas and unhealthy aspirations of our age. Live! Live that wonderful life that is hidden within you. Do not miss anything, always seek new sensations! Don't be afraid of anything!“
On love and fidelity
„…Falling in love begins with a person lying to himself, and ends with a person lying to another. This is commonly called a love affair.“
„…Men marry out of fatigue, women marry out of curiosity. Marriage brings disappointment to both.“
„…Always!.. What a terrible word! I shudder when I hear it. Women especially love it. They spoil every love, striving to make it eternal.“
„…I consider superficial people those who love only once in their lives. Their so-called fidelity and constancy are simply the lethargy of habit or lack of imagination. Fidelity in love, as well as the consistency and immutability of thoughts, are simply evidence of impotence…“
On conscience and morality
„…It is customary to speak of „secret“ vices. But there are no secret vices. They manifest themselves in the line of the mouth, in the heavy eyelids, even in the shape of the hands.“
„…There is a kind of pleasure in self-flagellation. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has the right to blame us. The forgiveness of sins is not given to us by the priest, but by confession itself.“
„…To be good means to live in harmony with oneself.“
„…Experience has no moral significance; people call their mistakes experience.“
“…Conscience and cowardice are basically the same. “Conscience“ is the official name for cowardice, that's it.“
“…Everyone lives as they please, and pays for it themselves.“
Oscar Wilde died at the age of 46 in exile in France on November 30, 1900, of acute meningitis caused by ear infection. He died in a cheap hotel. His last words were “Either me or that nasty flower wallpaper“.