Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel no one else has a right to blame us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-reproach can offer a sense of control over blame.
In this quote, Oscar Wilde suggests that indulging in self-reproach provides a peculiar form of luxury because it allows individuals to absolve themselves from external judgment. By blaming ourselves, we shield ourselves from the blame of others, creating an illusion of control and superiority over our own faults compared to how others might perceive us.
Themes
Self-ReproachBlameControlWisdomJudgment
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker could use this quote to discuss the benefits of personal accountability.
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.
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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
Oscar WildeRead
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