Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that fulfilling our desires may lead to negative consequences.
Oscar Wilde's quote emphasizes the idea that when we receive what we wish for, especially through prayers, it may not be a blessing but rather a punishment in disguise. It reflects on the notion that longing and desire can lead us to situations that may seem favorable but could ultimately result in unforeseen challenges or suffering. Thus, it invites reflection on the nature of our desires and the potential pitfalls that come with their fulfillment.
Themes
DesirePrayersConsequencesWisdomPunishment
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion about the nature of wishes and consequences.
More from Oscar Wilde
All quotes βLondon 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.
Oscar WildeRead
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.
Oscar WildeRead
Men always want to be a woman's first love - women like to be a man's last romance.
Oscar WildeRead
A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.
Oscar WildeRead
His morality is all sympathy, just what morality should be
Oscar WildeRead
Similar quotes
I think enormous harm is done by religion - not just in the name of religion, but actually by religion. ... Many people do simply awful things out of sincere religious belief, not using religion as a cover the way that Saddam Hussein may have done, but really because they believe that this is what God wants them to do, going all the way back to Abraham being willing to sacrifice Isaac because God told him to do that. Putting God ahead of humanity is a terrible thing.
Steven WeinbergRead
So, you are very welcome to our house. It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore, I scant this breathing courtesy.
William ShakespeareRead
Souls of prayer are souls of great silence
Mother TeresaRead
A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.
Mahatma GandhiRead
We were all fated to die, and so it is good that at least we can be sure our deaths today might bring about a good end, might make the world a better place.
Orson Scott CardRead
The essence of the miracle of forgiveness is that it brings peace to the previously anxious, restless, frustrated, perhaps tormented soul.
Spencer W. KimballRead