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About this quote

What does it mean?
Anyone can make history, but only a great person can write it.
In plain terms
Creating events is easy; documenting them well requires greatness.
What can you take from it?
Focus on crafting a compelling narrative of events.

Where it applies

  • journalism
  • biography

Putting it to work

  • tell stories with depth
  • highlight significance

Questions to consider

  • What makes a historical account great?
  • How can you elevate your storytelling?

Another view

Great writers can also be ordinary.

More from Oscar Wilde

  1. Meredith is a prose Browning, and so is Browning. He used poetry as a medium for writing in prose.

    Permalink to quote #32
  2. Every great man nowadays has his disciples, and it is always Judas who writes his biography.

    Permalink to quote #34
  3. Art persists, it timelessly continues.

    Permalink to quote #31

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