 A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Overeducated Read for LibriVox.org by Karl Manchester 2008 A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Overeducated by Oscar Wilde First published in the Saturday Review November 17th, 1894 Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Public opinion exists only where there are no ideas. The English are always degrading truths into facts. When a truth becomes a fact it loses all its intellectual value. It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. The only link between literature and drama left to us in England at the present moment is the Bill of the Play. In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody. Most women are so artificial that they have no sense of art. Most men are so natural that they have no sense of beauty. Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer. What is abnormal in life stands in normal relations to art. It is the only thing in life that stands in normal relations to art. A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection. The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious. The result is the criticism of the journalist. Art is the only serious thing in the world and the artist is the only person who is never serious. To be really medieval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes. Dandyism is the assertion of the absolute modernity of beauty. The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy. One should never listen. To listen is a sign of indifference to one's hearers. Even the disciple has his uses. He stands behind one's throne and at the moment of one's triumph whispers in one's ear that after all one is immortal. The criminal classes are so close to us that even the policemen can see them. They are so far away from us that only the poet can understand them. Those whom the gods love grow young. End of a few maxims for the instruction of the overeducated. This recording is in the public domain. Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young Read for LibriVox.org by Karl Manchester 2008 Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young by Oscar Wilde First published in the Chameleon December 1894 The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has yet discovered. Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others. If the poor only had profiles there would be no difficulty in solving the problem of poverty. Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither. A really well made buttonhole is the only link between art and nature. Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions. The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance. Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness. In all unimportant matters style not sincerity is the essential. In all important matters style not sincerity is the essential. If one tells the truth one is sure sooner or later to be found out. Pleasure is the only thing one should live for nothing ages like happiness. It is only by not paying one's bills that one can hope to live in the memory of the commercial classes. No crime is vulgar but all vulgarity is crime. Vulgarity is the conduct of others. Only the shallow know themselves. Time is a waste of money. One should always be a little improbable. There is a fatality about all good resolutions. They are invariably made too soon. The only way to atone for being occasionally a little overdressed is by being always absolutely overeducated. To be premature is to be perfect. Any preoccupation with ideas of what is right and wrong in conduct shows an arrested intellectual development. Ambition is the last refuge of the failure. A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it. In examinations the foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer. Greek dress was in its essence in artistic. Nothing should reveal the body but the body. One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art. It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out. Industry is the root of all ugliness. The ages live in history through their anachronisms. It is only the gods who taste of death. Apollo has passed away but Hyacinth whom men say he slew lives on. Nero and Narcissus are always with us. The old believe everything. The middle aged suspect everything. The young know everything. The condition of perfection is idleness. The aim of perfection is youth. Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure. There is something tragic about the enormous number of young men there are in England at the present moment who start life with perfect profiles and end by adopting some useful profession. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. End of phrases and philosophies for the use of the young. This recording is in the public domain.