Wilde Life

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde would be 159 years old today, thus, he is our guest so let's reflect on his wit.

First, his message to the T-party lost souls in the U.S. House of Representatives might be: "There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."

To the rest of us, who are observing our national crisis from afar, he might say: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" even as he notes an interesting historical observation about our politics:  "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

Let's now reflect upon his witty sayings without further editorial comment:

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

"True friends stab you in the front."

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

"A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally."

"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

"I can resist everything except temptation."

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."

"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike."

"If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism."

"To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

(Oscar Wilde). You might also like Ah, The Raven and/or The Poet Laureate of MOMCOM - 2.

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"Wild Life", by Paul McCartney

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