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One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar.
Oscar Wilde
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Life should be experienced fully without being bogged down by trivial details.

In this quote, Oscar Wilde suggests that while one should engage with the rich and vibrant experiences life offers, it is important not to get caught up in the minutiae that can detract from the beauty of those experiences. Instead of focusing on the petty details, we should appreciate the overall essence and emotions life brings, as dwelling on specifics can lead to a shallow and less meaningful existence.

Themes

LifeExperienceDetailsBeautyPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about living fully, one could quote Wilde to emphasize the importance of experiencing life without being bogged down by minor issues.

More from Oscar Wilde

Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.
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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.
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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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