"To influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly--that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion--these are the two things that govern us."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
The Picture of Dorian Gray
162 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by The Picture of Dorian Gray →
Related Quotes
"The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim."
"The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. The high…"
"Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find …"
"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all."
"The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth centu…"
"The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect…"
"No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved."
"From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feelin…"
"All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symb…"
"Conscience and cowardice are really the same things … Conscience is the trade-name of the firm. That is all."