"LORD ILLINGWORTH: The Book of Life begins with a man and a woman in a garden. MRS. ALLONBY: It ends with Revelations."

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

"It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible."

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"He who inspires courage in a single soul has led a monumental campaign. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."

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More about Literature

"I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic."

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"I'm quite sensitive to women. I saw how my sister got treated by boyfriends. I read this thing that said when you are in a relationship with a woman, imagine how you would feel if you were her father. That's been my approach, for the most part."

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"In any story, the villain is the catalyst. The hero's not a person who will bend the rules or show the cracks in his armor. He's one-dimensional intentionally, but the villain is the person who owns up to what he is and stands by it."

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"Some of the most famous books are the least worth reading. Their fame was due to their having done something that needed to be doing in their day. The work is done and the virtue of the book has expired."

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