QuoteProject
To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.
Oscar Wilde
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Anticipating the unforeseen demonstrates a level of intelligence and awareness.

Oscar Wilde's quote suggests that a truly enlightened and modern mind is one that is prepared for unpredictability. This reflects a wisdom that acknowledges the complexities of life and the inevitability of surprises, encouraging individuals to remain flexible and open-minded in the face of uncertainty.

Themes

ExpectationIntellectUnpredictabilityWisdomModern

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about embracing challenges, one might say, 'As Oscar Wilde said, to expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.'

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

There is nothing stronger than gentleness.
John WoodenRead
The principal point of cleverness is to know how to value things just as they deserve.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
A man must fortify himself and understand that a wise man who yields to laziness or anger or passion or love of drink, or who commits any other action prompted by impulse and inopportune, will probably find his fault condoned; but if he stoops to greed, he will not be pardoned, but render himself odious as a combination of all vices at once.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
It's important to remember that people are always doing the best they can, including you.
Louise HayRead
In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.
Gautama BuddhaRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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