Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
Art never harms itself by keeping aloof from the social problems of the day: rather, by so doing, it more completely realises for us that which we desire.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art should engage with social issues to reflect our desires more fully.
In this quote, Oscar Wilde suggests that art does not distance itself from societal challenges; rather, it enhances our understanding of who we are and what we desire when it engages with these issues. By connecting with the social problems of its time, art can more effectively resonate with people's emotions and aspirations, fostering a deeper appreciation for the human experience.
Themes
ArtSocietyDesireEngagementSocial Issues
In practice
Example use cases
In a gallery opening that emphasizes socially conscious art.
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.
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
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Art remains the one way possible of speaking truth.
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I have to be composed; I have to be poised. I have to remember what my first piano teacher told me: 'You do not touch that piano until you are ready and until they are ready to listen to you.
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