“One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar.”

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

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Oscar Wilde812

Irish writer and poet 1854–1900

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“The details and distractions are infinite. It is only natural, therefore, that we should never see the picture whole. But the universal goal — the attainment of harmony — is apparent.”

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Source: Alone (1938), Ch. 6
Context: When a man achieves a fair measure of harmony within himself and his family circle, he achieves peace; and a nation made up of such individuals and groups is a happy nation. As the harmony of a star in its course is expressed by rhythm and grace, so the harmony of a man's life-course is expressed by happiness; this, I believe, is the prime desire of mankind.
"The universe is an almost untouched reservoir of significance and value," and man need not be discouraged because he cannot fathom it. His view of life is no more than a flash in time. The details and distractions are infinite. It is only natural, therefore, that we should never see the picture whole. But the universal goal — the attainment of harmony — is apparent. The very act of perceiving this goal and striving constantly toward it does much in itself to bring us closer, and therefore, becomes an end in itself.

“It is impossible that there should be so much providence in the last details, and none in the first principles.”

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IX. On Providence, Fate, and Fortune.
On the Gods and the Cosmos
Context: It is impossible that there should be so much providence in the last details, and none in the first principles. Then the arts of prophecy and of healing, which are part of the cosmos, come of the good providence of the Gods.