Saturday, March 29, 2014

Quote of The Day ~ Oscar Wilde

         I'm sitting in literature class, glancing at the clock every so often, and waiting for friday to end when I read my teachers T-shirt. It says, "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." I remember thinking shaking my head at the snarkiness of that shirt when I notice Oscar Wilde's name on the bottom. Wait. That was a quote??
5 hours later: I think I've read every single on of Oscar Wilde's quotes (including book quotes), and judging just by what I've read, he seems like a pretty amazing guy. I mean I admire all authors for their subtle criticism and snarkiness, but I can just tell that he is the king of them all. I love him, I love his sarcasm and satire, and I haven't even read anything he's written (yet).
Here's his quote: (I feel bad for this irony. The cute couple in the background are really cute. Really)

                        First of all, I need to say that I am a hopeless romantic. I believe in The One a.k.a One True Love a.k.a Soulmate (these names are all important enough to be in capitals...soo they need to be taken seriously!) so I thought that Oscar Wilde and I might have problems (if we ever do meet up for coffee that is).
     But then I analysed the quote, and I think maybe (just maybe) Oscar Wilde is right. I interpret the "kiss" as the beginning of a relationship (like a real not-puppy-or-friend-with-benefits thing).
           The first thing this reminded me of was a quote from Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (the great American novel itself. yay), "He knew that when he kissed this girl,[...] his mind would never romp again like the mind of God." Oscar Wilde actually captured in one sentence a major theme in The Great Gatsby - Love makes you altruistic, it changes you. (Everyone knows about the lengths Jay Gatsby went to for a woman he loved.)Love, whether it is reciprocated or not, makes people a little crazy. Actually, there are a hundred million quotes relating to love which say the exact same thing. But the only negatve one was Oscar Wilde's. The cold cynical quote can be seen in a good light.
           Because relationships do change things a bit. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they "ruin" human life, but the moment you start a relationship, you change things in your life. You are no longer a singular person, you are part of a team. Personal goals, while they aren't cast away, start to come second to mutual goals. And because of this, you may not always achieve all those things you've always wanted to achieve; because of this, you might feel like you've done less. But in a real relationship, you'll be happy and that's all that matters.
           A single kiss could change things: it could change one's ideals, and it could change one's entire idea of happiness. A kiss can bring things into perspective. It actually does ruin one's old life, because after it, comes a whole new life. A whole new level of happiness, goals, ideas etc. The best part? You won't even have to enjoy this new level alone, you'll have someone to experience it with you.

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