7 quotes explained
Irish playwright and wit (1854–1900)
“We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.”
– Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost (1887)
Meaning: A joke: Britain and America share almost everything, Wilde says, except the thing they are supposed to share most, the English language.
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
– Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
Meaning: Everyone has problems and faults, but some people still look up and dream of something better. Your situation does not decide your hopes.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
– Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
Meaning: Many people simply get through each day without real joy or purpose. Truly living means being active, curious and fully yourself.
“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.”
– Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
Meaning: The joke turns logic upside down: normally important things are discussed seriously, but Wilde's character says life is so important that we should only talk about it lightly and with humour.
– Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
Meaning: Wilde argues that a book should be judged as art, by the quality of its writing, not by whether its story is good or bad behaviour.
– Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
Meaning: The joke is that temptation is the only thing you ever need to resist, so saying you can resist everything else means you have no self-control at all.
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
– Oscar Wilde, The Remarkable Rocket (1888)
Meaning: The speaker thinks he is brilliant, but actually admits that he talks nonsense. Wilde is laughing at people who are proud of sounding clever.
