We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish writer and playwright, author of The Picture of Dorian Gray and the comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. He was as known for his wit in conversation as for his work. In 1895 he was sentenced to two years' hard labour for homosexuality, which broke him; he died in Paris three years after his release.
About this theme: Inspiration
The word inspiration literally means breathing in — something arriving from outside. The image is old, and it explains why inspiration is so often discussed as a gift that either comes or does not. The working practice of almost everyone who has made anything says the opposite: it usually shows up in the middle of the work rather than before it.
More by Oscar Wilde
- To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
- Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
- The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
- Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.
- Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.
More on Inspiration
- Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.— Marcus Aurelius
- It always seems impossible until it's done.— Nelson Mandela
- Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.— Swami Vivekananda
- When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.— Henry Ford
- I would rather die of passion than of boredom.— Vincent van Gogh