QuoteProject
It is only by not paying one's bills that one can hope to live in the memory of the commercial classes.
Oscar Wilde
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Not paying bills can create a lasting impression in commercial society, satirically suggesting that there's a twisted form of legacy in debt.

Oscar Wilde's quote humorously critiques the commercial mindset by suggesting that failing to fulfill financial obligations is a way to stand out and be remembered by businesses and society. It reflects Wilde's wit and his commentary on societal values, as he highlights the absurdity of being valued based on financial irresponsibility rather than character or contributions.

Themes

DebtMemoryCommercialWildeHumor

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the absurdities of consumer culture.

More from Oscar Wilde

Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
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.
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 was number 1 on the who's likely to die list for 10 years...I was really disappointed when I fell off that list.
Keith RichardsRead
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
George WillRead
I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens.
Dwight D. EisenhowerRead
Well, I mean, if a joke or humor is bawdy, it's got to be funny enough to warrant it. You can't just have it bawdy or dirty just for the sake of being that - it's got to be funny.
Betty WhiteRead
Our most noted satirists are true columnists, and their opinions can be worth more than any well-documented expose.
Umberto EcoRead
Firefly: Where is your husband? Mrs. Teasdale: Why, he's dead. Firefly: I'll bet he's just using that as an excuse. Mrs. Teasdale: I was with him to the very end. Firefly: Hmmph. No wonder he passed away. Mrs. Teasdale: I held him in my arms and kissed him. Firefly: Oh I see. Then, it was murder.
Groucho MarxRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.