Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
Oscar WildeRead
The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world.
Interpretation
Those who master social situations have influence over larger affairs.
Oscar Wilde's quote suggests that the ability to navigate social dynamics, exemplified by dominating a dinner-table conversation in a bustling city like London, reflects a broader skill set that can be applied to influence and control larger arenas, such as global affairs. It highlights the power of communication, wit, and charisma in shaping opinions and leading others.
In practice
In a seminar on leadership, this quote can emphasize the importance of social skills.
Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
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.
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.
Men always want to be a woman's first love - women like to be a man's last romance.
A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.
His morality is all sympathy, just what morality should be
What is the most precious thing in the world? I see now that it is the knowledge that you have no part in injustice. Injustice is stronger than you, it always was and always will be, but let it not be done through you.
While most of the things you've worried about have never happened, it's a different story with the things you haven't worried about. They are the ones that happen.
. . . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.
People are like tea bags; you never know how strong they'll be until they're in hot water. In times of trouble, you not only discover what you truly believe but whether or not you can act on your beliefs.
It is also true that the less competent a person is in a given domain, the more he will tend to overestimate his abilities. This often produces an ugly marriage of confidence and ignorance that is very difficult to correct for.
We have to do the best we are capable of. This is our sacred human responsibility.
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