Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
A good friend will always stab you in the front.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True friends are honest and confrontational rather than deceitful.
This quote by Oscar Wilde suggests that a genuine friend will be straightforward and direct with you, even if it means delivering difficult truths. Unlike those who might betray you with hidden motives, a good friend offers honesty and loyalty, making their intentions clear rather than acting behind your back.
Themes
FriendshipHonestyLoyaltyTrustBetrayal
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance 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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Similar quotes
Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends.
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One friend in a life-time is much; two are many; three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim.
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For a friend with an understanding heart is worth no less than a brother
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I do not want a friend who smiles when I smile, who weeps when I weep; for my shadow in the pool can do better than that.
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Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
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For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.
Christina RossettiRead