those who know what beauty is, and those who know what sorrow is
 Oscar Wilde, De Profundis (1905). copy citation

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Author Oscar Wilde
Source De Profundis
Topic beauty sorrow
Date 1905
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/921/921-h/921-h.htm

Context

“People must adopt some attitude towards me, and so pass judgment, both on themselves and me. I need not say I am not talking of particular individuals. The only people I would care to be with now are artists and people who have suffered: those who know what beauty is, and those who know what sorrow is: nobody else interests me. Nor am I making any demands on life. In all that I have said I am simply concerned with my own mental attitude towards life as a whole; and I feel that not to be ashamed of having been punished is one of the first points I must attain to, for the sake of my own perfection, and because I am so imperfect.” source