Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
Death and vulgarity are the only two facts in the nineteenth century that one cannot explain away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Oscar Wilde emphasizes the inescapable nature of death and the undeniable presence of vulgarity in society.
This quote reflects Oscar Wilde's view that some truths, such as death and the inherent vulgarity of human nature, are unavoidable realities that cannot be dismissed or ignored. In a society frequently preoccupied with appearances and propriety, these two elements stand out as fundamental human experiences that reveal deeper truths about life and existence.
Themes
DeathVulgarityTruthHuman NatureSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on existentialism, one might reference Wilde's quote to illustrate the permanence of certain truths.
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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