A simile committing suicide is always a depressing spectacle.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A simile that ends abruptly is like a tragic act, making it a depressing sight.
- In plain terms
- A broken simile is a sad spectacle.
- What can you take from it?
- Complete your comparisons for clarity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do unfinished comparisons feel unsettling?
- When can they be effective?
Another view
Some broken similes can be intentionally artistic.
More from Oscar Wilde
Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event.
Permalink to quote #12 And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
Permalink to quote #14 A poet can survive everything but a misprint.
Permalink to quote #11
Related quotes
I rhyme To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.
Seamus HeaneySeamus Heaney quote #1 Language is the net that holds thought trapped within a particular culture. But if one could only strike the ball with sufficient force, with perfect timing, i…
David LodgeDavid Lodge quote #5 Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking.
John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes quote #8