"The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable, and literature is not read."

Literature

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on literature by Oscar Wilde resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in literature is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish author, poet and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential dramatists in London in the early 1890s. He was a key figure in the emerging Aestheticism movement of the late 19th century and is widely regarded as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era. Wilde is best known for his Gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), his epigrams, plays and bedtime stories for children, as well as his criminal conviction in 1895 for gross indecency and for practicing homosexual acts.

More quotes by Oscar Wilde  ’
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Oscar Wilde

"Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects."

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"Those who write the editorials and those who write the columns, they simply are unaccountable. They're free to impose their cultural politics in the name of freedom of the press."

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"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."

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