All that [experience] really demonstrated was that our future would be the same as our past, and that the sin we had done once, and with loathing, we would do many times, and with joy.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 4 (1891)
    (Source)

The passage also occurs in ch. 3 of the original Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (1890-06) version.

As extracted into Oscariana and epigram form (e.g.), it is given in the present tense:

All that it really demonstrates is that our future will be the same as our past, and that the sin we have done once, and with loathing, we shall do many times, and with joy.


 
Added on 17-Jan-24 | Last updated 17-Jan-24
Link to this post | 1 comment
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Wilde, Oscar

1 thought on “<i>The Picture of Dorian Gray</i>, ch. 4 (1891)”

  1. Pingback: The Neurotic's Notebook, ch. 8 (1963) - McLaughlin, Mignon | WIST Quotations

Thoughts? Comments? Corrections? Feedback?