“The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes.”

— Oscar Wilde, book The Soul of Man under Socialism

The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
Context: The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. The error of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The result of his error was the French Revolution. It was an admirable result. All the results of the mistakes of governments are quite admirable.

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Oscar Wilde812

Irish writer and poet 1854–1900

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