Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
I feel that if I kept it secret it might grow in my mind (as poisonous things grow in the dark) and take its place with the other terrible thoughts that gnaw me
Interpretation
What this quote means
Keeping secrets can lead to negative thoughts festering and worsening over time.
This quote suggests that harboring secrets can be detrimental to one's mental health, as these hidden thoughts can grow like weeds in darkness, becoming more poisonous and harmful. By bringing such thoughts into the open, we might prevent them from becoming overwhelming and destructive, highlighting the importance of openness and expression in maintaining mental clarity and well-being.
Themes
SecretsThoughtsMental HealthOpennessExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of sharing one's feelings.
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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