Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Book Review: The Decay of Lying

Yea, well it was written in 1889... or something like that...

...and I read a re-print.

My copy has no reference to ISBN numbers or dates - Kessinger Publishing. The author is Oscar Wilde.

A few of my favorite lines completely out of context are:

"When I look at a landscape I cannot help seeing all its defects."

"practice must precede perfection"

"In point of fact what is interesting about people in good society – (info left out here) – is the mask that each one of them wears, not the reality that lies behind the mask."

"All bad art comes from returning to Life and Nature, and elevating them into ideals."

"What we have to do, what at any rate it is our duty to do, is to revive this old art of Lying."

"The final revelation is that lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things,  is the proper aim of Art."

I have spent the last 15 years teaching my children to NOT lie and yet lying through my art appeals to me. Hummm. Interesting.

Gotta go make art!

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