“The tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self denial.”

—  Oscar Wilde

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self denial." by Oscar Wilde?
Oscar Wilde photo
Oscar Wilde 812
Irish writer and poet 1854–1900

Related quotes

Emma Goldman photo

“The Fathers of the Church can well afford to preach the gospel of Christ. It contains nothing dangerous to the regime of authority and wealth; it stands for self-denial and self-abnegation, for penance and regret, and is absolutely inert in the face of every [in]dignity, every outrage imposed upon mankind.”

Emma Goldman (1868–1940) anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches

The Failure of Christianity (1913)

Poul Anderson photo

“Nothing in excess, including self-denial.”

Poul Anderson book The Boat of a Million Years

Source: The Boat of a Million Years (1989), Chapter 2 “The Peaches of Forever” (p. 29)

Zbigniew Brzeziński photo

“With the more endowed nations constrained by their own higher technological capacity for self-destruction as well as by self interest, war may have become a luxury that only the poor peoples of this world can afford.”

Zbigniew Brzeziński book The Grand Chessboard

Conclusion, p. 213.
The Grand Chessboard (1997)

E.M. Forster photo

“To trust people is a luxury in which only the wealthy can indulge; the poor cannot afford it.”

E.M. Forster book Howards End

Source: Howards End

Edward O. Wilson photo

“The mosquito is an automaton. It can afford to be nothing else.”

Edward O. Wilson book On Human Nature

On Human Nature (1978), Ch.3 Development

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“Tragedy delights by affording a shadow of the pleasure which exists in pain.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Romantic poet

A Defence of Poetry http://www.bartleby.com/27/23.html (1821)

Stephen King photo

“Are you sure self-pity is a luxury you can afford, Jack?”

Stephen King book The Shining

Source: The Shining

Edith Hamilton photo

“None but a poet can write a tragedy. For tragedy is nothing less than pain transmuted into exaltation by the alchemy of poetry.”

Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) American teacher and writer

Source: The Greek Way (1930), Ch. 11

Ambrose Bierce photo

“Self-denial is indulgence of a propensity to forego.”

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist

Sometimes quoted with the spelling "forgo", but Bierce used "forego" in his 1911 Collected Works
Epigrams

Colin Wilson photo

“…the Outsider's problem is the problem of denial of self-expression.”

Colin Wilson book The Outsider

Source: The Outsider (1956), Chapter Four The Attempt to Gain Control

Related topics