Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
Don't use big words. They mean so little.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Using simple language can convey deeper meaning than complex vocabulary.
This quote by Oscar Wilde suggests that the use of complicated or grandiose language often dilutes the message rather than enhancing it. By advocating for simplicity in communication, Wilde emphasizes that clarity and sincerity are more valuable than ostentatious word choices that may confuse or alienate one's audience.
Themes
SimplicityCommunicationLanguageClarityUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
A public speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of clear messaging in their speech.
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
Similar quotes
Nobody is ordinary if you know where to look.
Maeve BinchyRead
What is required is sight and insight- then you might add one more: excite.
Robert FrostRead
I'm attracted to subjects who overcome tremendous suffering and learn to cope emotionally with it
Laura HillenbrandRead
There's a difference [between taking a charge and flopping]. We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That's kind of like, where are your balls at?
Kobe BryantRead
The man of thought who will not act is ineffective; the man of action who will not think is dangerous.
Richard M. NixonRead
Correct meditation means correctly understanding your situation moment by moment - what are you doing now? Only do it! Then, each action is complete; each action is enough. Then no thinking, so each moment I can perceive everything just like this.
Seung SahnRead