Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet, playwright, novelist and essayist. He was educated in classics at Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College Oxford. In the late 1880s and early 1890s he was known as one of the UK’s foremost playwrights. He was also known for his advocacy of the philosophy of aestheticism and for his flamboyant personality and social life. In 1895 he was convicted for ‘gross indecency’ for his relationship with another man, as homosexuality was illegal under UK law at the time. He was sentenced to two years hard labour in prison.
After his death in 1900, Wilde remained extremely popular and over time his reputation has increased. Today, many of his works are regarded as masterpieces, including his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, Lady Windermere’s Fan and Salome.
Politically, Wilde was an anarchist and a libertarian socialist. For Wilde, anarchism and socialism were desirable as a means to a flourishing individualism where everyone would be free to realise their full talents. Wilde’s extolling of the virtues of individual freedom can be praised, and taken as inspiration, even if you reject (as I do) his belief that socialism would be the best means for achieving a world where such opportunities and values would be most prevalent.
It should be noted that, as there are so many fantastic Wilde quotes, this is a very small selection. These are the ones most reflective of individualism and the value of freedom.
1) As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.
The Critic as Artist (1891), Part II
2) Public Opinion, which is an attempt to organise the ignorance of the community, and to elevate it to the dignity of physical force.
The Critic as Artist (1891), Part III
3) Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
4) High hopes were once formed of democracy; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
5) All authority is quite degrading. It degrades those who exercise it, and degrades those over whom it is exercised.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
6) Art is Individualism, and Individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. Therein lies its immense value. For what it seeks to disturb is monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
7) People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live under. To this question there is only one answer. The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. Authority over him and his art is ridiculous.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
8) There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannises over the body. There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul. There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul and body alike. The first is called the Prince. The second is called the Pope. The third is called the People.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
9) Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
10) A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)