Oscar Wilde Quotes

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 6. Lord Henry has very interesting views on optimism. To him it is just an illusion. For beneath it is the fear that a person’s comfortable and cozy world is under threat. The fuller version of his cynical judgment on optimism: "The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror. We think that we are generous because we credit our neighbour with the possession of those virtues that are likely to be a benefit to us. We praise the banker that we may overdraw our account, and find good qualities in the highwayman in the hope that he may spare our pockets. We praise the banker that we may overdraw our account, and find good qualities in the highwayman in the hope that he may spare our pockets. I mean everything that I have said. I have the greatest contempt for optimism."