Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The worth of an idea is independent of the person's sincerity or character who presents it.
Oscar Wilde emphasizes that an idea's significance is not influenced by the intentions or integrity of the person voicing it. This challenges the notion that the value of ideas should be judged by the speaker's credibility, highlighting the importance of the idea itself rather than the individual behind it.
Themes
IdeasValueSincerityExpressionPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about social reform where various ideas are presented regardless of the politicians' backgrounds.
More from Oscar Wilde
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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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