Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
The people who have adored me-- there have not been very many, but there have been some-- have always insisted on living on, long after I had ceased to care for them, or they to care for me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the nature of love and attachment, emphasizing a one-sidedness in relationships.
Oscar Wilde highlights the complexity of human relationships, particularly the dynamics of love and attachment. He suggests that some individuals continue to hold affection or admiration for him long after the feelings have faded on his part or vice versa. This illustrates the sometimes painful reality of relational imbalances, where one person may feel deeply invested while the other has moved on, leading to a disconnect in emotional care and attachment.
Themes
RelationshipsLoveAttachmentCareEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about unrequited love, one might use this quote to illustrate the complexities of 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.
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
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