Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
By persistently remaining single a man converts himself into a permanent public temptation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Remaining single can attract unwanted attention and be seen as a challenge or temptation by others.
Oscar Wilde's quote suggests that a man who chooses to stay single for an extended period may inadvertently become an object of desire for others, drawing attention to himself and possibly complicating his social interactions. The idea highlights the societal perceptions of single individuals and how their status can spark intrigue and temptation in those around them.
Themes
SingleTemptationRelationshipsSocietyAttention
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about modern relationships, one might quote Wilde to emphasize the complexity of being single.
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.
Oscar WildeRead
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
Similar quotes
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Albert King wasn't my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in Blues
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A simple enough pleasure, surely, to have breakfast alone with one's husband, but how seldom married people in the midst of life achieve it.
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