To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wilde jokes that he would regain youth by avoiding exercise, early rising, and respectability, highlighting the folly of seeking youth through shortcuts.
- In plain terms
- He says he'd get his youth back by not exercising, getting up early, or being respectable.
- What can you take from it?
- Youth cannot be reclaimed by avoiding discipline.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What realistic steps can improve one's sense of youth?
- Why do we romanticize youth?
Another view
Some lifestyle changes can improve vitality, even if they don't reverse age.
More from Oscar Wilde
A woman will flirt with anybody in the world as long as other people are looking on.
Permalink to quote #102 The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
Permalink to quote #104 To define is to limit.
Permalink to quote #101
Related quotes
You that would last long, list to my song, Make no more coil, but buy of this oil. Would you be ever fair and young? Stout of teeth and strong of tongue? Tart …
Ben JonsonBen Jonson quote #8 My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.
Ellen DeGeneresEllen DeGeneres quote #17 I'm taking Viagra and drinking prune juice- I don't know if I'm coming or going.
Rodney DangerfieldRodney Dangerfield quote #28