Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
The aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure. He is the very basis of civilized society.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that deception can play a crucial role in human interactions by providing pleasure and charm in social contexts.
Oscar Wilde reflects on the nature of liars in society, indicating that their primary goal is to enchant others and enhance social interactions. He posits that the charm and pleasure derived from deception serve as foundational elements in civilized society, provoking thought about the moral implications of such behavior and its impact on human relationships.
Themes
DeceptionSocietyCharmPleasureRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the role of honesty in friendships.
More from Oscar Wilde
All quotes βLondon 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.
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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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