SOME EPIGRAMS OF OSCAR WILDE
Oscar Wilde was one of the most popular playwrights of his
time. He was born in Westland Row, Dublin, on 16th October 1854 and
passed away in Paris on 30th November 1900. The works for which he
is still remembered are The Importance of
Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Happy Prince.
As a writer he had a subtle sense of style and was above all
a wit of rare quality.
The word epigram has many connotations. Its synonyms are: witticism, quip, pun, saying,
proverb, maxim, adage, axiom and aphorism. In simple words it may be defined as
a short clever saying expressing a general truth or even its
opposite.
Wilde is a prolific creator of epigrams and aphorisms. Only a
few of them are given below for the readers’ delight.
1. Good
people do a great deal of harm in the world. Certainly the greatest harm they do
is they do that they make badness o such extraordinary importance. It is absurd
to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.
2. Actions
are the first tragedies in life, words are the second. Words are perhaps the worst.
Words are merciless.
3. Morality
is simply the attitude we adopt toward people whom we personally dislike.
4. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong
romance.
5. The soul
is born old, but it grows young; that is the comedy of life. The Body is born
young and grows old, that’s life’s tragedy.
6.
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.
7. Duty is
what one expects from others --- it is not what one does oneself.
8. The only
difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past, and
every sinner has a future.
9. Poets
know how useful passion is for publication. Nowadays a broken heart will run to
many editions.
10. A man
cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
11. Nothing
can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the
soul.
12. Punctuality
is the thief of time.
13. Tea is
the only simple pleasure left to us.
14. The well
bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
15. Cheap editions of great book may be
delightful, but cheap editions of great men are absolutely detestable.
----
4th June 2020 G. R.
KANWAL
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