Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
You have always told me it was Ernest. I have introduced you to every one as Ernest. You answer to the name of Ernest. You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life. It is perfectly absurd your saying that your name isn't Ernest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote humorously highlights the absurdity of identity and the importance placed on names.
In this quote by Oscar Wilde, the speaker humorously insists that the person being addressed must be named 'Ernest' because of how they present themselves and how others perceive them. It explores the idea that our identities can often be shaped by external perceptions and societal expectations, leading to a playful examination of truth and authenticity.
Themes
IdentityNamesPerceptionAbsurdityHumor
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote during a discussion about identity and self-perception in a philosophy class.
More from Oscar Wilde
All quotes →London is too full of fogs and serious people. Whether the fogs produce the serious people, or whether the serious people produce the fogs, I don't know.
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When one has never heard a man's name in the course of one's life, it speaks volumes for him; he must be quite respectable.
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Men always want to be a woman's first love - women like to be a man's last romance.
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A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.
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His morality is all sympathy, just what morality should be
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