An Irish poet and a playwright, Oscar Wilde was one of the most popular playwrighter in London. He explored numerous styles and forms of writing and was widely recognised for his plays and short stories. He also published many books; some of his notable works are The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Canterville Ghost, The Happy Prince, and many more.
A witty and charismatic personality, Wilde got enormously famous in his days and also gave out amazing quotations. Here are some of the best Oscar Wilde Quotes.
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
If you wish to annoy and get on the nerves of your enemy, then forgive them; no revenge is the best revenge! Your enemy would always want you to retaliate and stoop down to their level, and that would be their win. But why give them the satisfaction of winning? Instead, be nice to them and forgive them, and that would be their punishment.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Everyone can and is existing. It is the art of living that one must master; it is very rare for people to live their life to the fullest and not merely exist and carry out tasks and activities for the sake of it, and that is why such people are seldom found.
One should always live their life and enjoy each and every day, endure their mistakes and learn from them, and should always be in a good and cheerful spirit.
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
People are quite aware about the price of almost everything, but they fail to realise the true value of things. Here, the price refers to the cost of a particular thing, and the value refers to its worth. The former is a physical aspect, whereas the latter is an abstract one, which often goes unnoticed by people.
We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.
Nobody is responsible for the wrongs and evils in our lives but us because it is us who tend to control our own lives. We all are our own devils who have made this world just like our hell, and it is because of our evil actions and behaviour that this is the case, and each of us has partaken in this sin equally by some or the other action of ours.
Even in our own lives, if we have to face problems and challenges, then those are the consequences of our actions only, and nobody else's.
Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
Wilde has passed on a rather bolo opinion and statement through this quote. As fashion styles and trends keep on changing in a span of five to six months, he says nobody can stand fashion due to its ugliness because of which people have to constantly change it in such a short time.
Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success.
If a person is able to sympathise and/or empathise with their friend while they are facing plight, they are undoubtedly a good friend. But the real test is whether or not they are able to be happy for their friend's success and accomplishments, without secretly being envious and bitter; if they are able to do that, then that is when they are considered to be a true friend.
The world is a stage, and the play is badly cast.
Here Wilde has compared the world to a stage and the situations being taken place and things happening around the world as the play. Due to such a huge amount of wrong going on in the world, hatred and bitterness spread everywhere, violence taking place, and other such acts happening, the play that is badly cast on the stage of the world.
Some things are more precious because they don't last long.
Everything in life is precious and unique in its own way. But certain things tend to be more precious because neither do they last for a long while, nor do they intend to come back in one's life, and this feeling of a one-time experience is what makes them even more special.
Never take the things you know aren't going to last long for granted because once they pass you, you will regret not realising their value when you had the opportunity to.
Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.
Life is a one-way ticket, and everyone is bound to leave this world one day. So, why not live it to the fullest and in the best way possible while you still can!
Don't let petty troubles or disappointments cloud your mind and soul and always have the want to try new and different things; instead of resisting challenges and risks, endure them and take the chances because life is all about taking risks, and one is most likely to learn and grow by learning new things, by falling down, and getting up yet again.
Don't be afraid of anything and never let your fears take over your confidence and determination.
Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is by far the best ending for one.
This is a rather true statement that Wilde has tried to make through this quote. Yes, a friendship that starts with laughter is ought to have a good beginning, but one that ends with laughter and understanding instead of bitterness and hatred, is bound to have the best ending.
Anybody can end a friendship on a bad note that stumbles across the lines of miscommunication and hatred, but it takes great courage and maturity to end a friendship on a good note mutually and not have any feelings of resentment for the other person.
The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
Without the possibility of everything going wrong, without fear, there would be no optimism because hope and positivity tend to spark from the darkest of situations.
The phrase everything will be alright is not used in situations wherein everything is already good; it is only spoken by people when things are not in good condition.
The aim of life is self-development. To realise one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.
Everybody's main purpose in life is to develop and grow individually and realise one's worth and true value. There is incessant learning and growing to do in life and to accomplish that, is what we all are truly here for.
Self-development, self-awareness, and self-actualisation are some of the most crucial factors of any individual's life; once you are aware of your true worth, there is nothing and nobody that could stop you from growing or excelling in life.
Everything popular is wrong.
This is quite an evident remark that Wilde has made with relation to the society and people in general, and it is also true to some extent.
Almost everything popular or liked by the majority is often wrong, and the things that only some people stand by often tends to be right. This is because the majority of the people are scared of social punishment and do not dare to support and sieve wrong from right, only some people are able to do that, and the ones who do that, are often excluded and are labelled as the minority.
The one charm about the past is that it is the past.
One might have to bear with the aftermath of his/her past actions and behaviours in the present and even the future at times, and that is one of the main drawbacks of the past. But one charm about the past is that it has already taken place, and whatever it is that happened, is in the past and cannot be undone or changed.
And this is what also gives an individual a great chance to redeem oneself or their actions because one's past does not define them. It is the ability to acknowledge and accept it, trying to change and become a better person, and move further with life.
A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
If you don't think for your own self, then it is not possible for you to think for others either; one needs to be able to look out for oneself and think about oneself first, to look out for other people.
If a person does not think for him/herself, then he/she does not think at all because that is the bare minimum.
Illusion is the first of all pleasures
Why Wilde has stated illusion as the first and one of the best pleasures is because when an individual is deluded by something that is not exactly reality, or chooses to look at the world in an illusive way, then it is bound to fit his/her perception because of which it appeals to them and to their sense of reality or how the world or people should be, and naturally, they won't get hurt; this is often the case because it gets harsh and difficult to accept things for what they are and people for who they are, so people tend to take the easy way out with the help of illusion.
Continue reading some of the best Oscar Wilde Quotes.....
Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.
Life is not really complex, we are, and it is only us, who have made life complex too. Life is and always has been simple and the simple thing is often the right one, but due to the complexities that we have introduced into our own and other's lives, is what tends to make life difficult and feels wrong at times.
It is not the way life works that is to be blamed; rather, it is the way we handle our lives that the deciding factor.
A pessimist is somebody who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.
A pessimist is a person who always looks at life and everything that it has to offer from a negative perspective. This is why Wilde has stated that a pessimistic person is bound to complain and label an opportunity knocking on his/her door as noise because they tend to turn even a positive situation into a negative one.
A flower blossoms for its own joy.
Here a flower is being compared to an individual; a flower does not blossom or look pretty to appease others for the sake of other people or because they get happy to see a flower, it does so for its own joy and growth. Similarly, one does not have to do anything at all to impress other people, and one should only focus on what's best for him/herself.
Growth is more about self-development and coming to terms with one's true worth, and not about trying to be what other people see you or wish to see you as. It is what you wish to see yourself as.
Appearance blinds, whereas words reveal.
Appearances often tend to be deceiving, and it is the words and the person's actions that will either confirm their appearance or make you realise that they're not what they show people to be. For instance, a man from a well-reputed background who is also appreciated by others might turn out to be a fraud and a dishonest individual in general. In contrast, a homeless person might turn out to be a genuine individual on a general basis.
This is why one should never judge the book by its cover; a book is a person, and their appearance and external aspects are the cover.
Co-author: Khushi Shah
Khushi has just passed her school and is now studying at PDPU. Apart from writing, she likes to sketch and dance. She also has other blogs where she posts proses and poetry.
