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About this quote

What does it mean?
Only relatives or creditors call in a demanding, Wagnerian style.
In plain terms
Only family or debtors ring with a grand, demanding tone.
What can you take from it?
Recognize that urgent demands often come from those who owe you or you owe.

Where it applies

  • family gatherings
  • debt collection

Putting it to work

  • set boundaries
  • manage expectations

Questions to consider

  • How do you differentiate genuine urgency from melodrama?
  • When should you set limits on demanding contacts?

Another view

Not all relatives or creditors behave dramatically.

More from Oscar Wilde

  1. The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain.

    Permalink to quote #147
  2. To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

    Permalink to quote #149
  3. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.

    Permalink to quote #146

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