Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilization.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Agitators challenge the status quo, stimulating progress in society.
This quote by Oscar Wilde emphasizes the crucial role that agitators play in society by disrupting complacency and sparking discontent among individuals who may be otherwise satisfied. Wilde suggests that these agents of change are essential for progress and civilization, as they push people to confront issues that may have been ignored or accepted, ultimately leading to a more evolved society.
Themes
AgitatorsProgressContentmentCivilizationDiscontent
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a rally might use this quote to highlight the importance of activism.
More from Oscar Wilde
All quotes →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
Cinna wishes to seem poor, and is poor
Marcus AureliusRead
There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.
Ben HechtRead
The judgment: You are now before Yama, King of the Dead. In vain will you try to...deny or conceal the evil deeds you have done. ... the mirror in which Yama seems to read your past is your own memory, and also his judgment is your own. It is you yourself who pronounce your own judgment.
Gautama BuddhaRead
There’s nothing wrong with not looking like something. It just means you don’t fit the stereotype yet.
Haruki MurakamiRead
To combat death you don't need much of a life, just one that isn't yet finished.
Herta MullerRead
First of all, you ask me if the God of Christians forgives one who doesn't believe and doesn't seek the faith. Premise that - and it's the fundamental thing - the mercy of God has no limits if one turns to him with a sincere and contrite heart; the question for one who doesn't believe in God lies in obeying one's conscience.
Pope FrancisRead