Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
Indeed, as any one who has ever worked among the poor knows only too well, the brotherhood of man is no mere poet's dream, it is a most depressing and humiliating reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the harsh truth of human existence and the struggles faced by the poor, contrasting idealism with reality.
In this quote, Oscar Wilde emphasizes that the concept of 'the brotherhood of man' is not just an idealistic notion often romanticized by poets, but rather a sobering reality that exposes the hardships and humiliations experienced by those who are less fortunate. Wilde's statement serves as a critique of society's neglect of the poor and compels us to confront the uncomfortable truths of social inequality.
Themes
BrotherhoodPovertyRealityTruthSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a charity event speech to highlight the need for social justice.
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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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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