“ Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are. ”
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband (1895). copy citation
| Author | Oscar Wilde |
|---|---|
| Source | An Ideal Husband |
| Topic | questions indiscretion |
| Date | 1895 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/885/885-h/885-h.htm |
Context
“I fear I could hardly agree with you there. But do sit down. And now tell me, what makes you leave your brilliant Vienna for our gloomy London—or perhaps the question is indiscreet?
Mrs. Cheveley. Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.
sir robert chiltern. Well, at any rate, may I know if it is politics or pleasure?
Mrs. Cheveley. Politics are my only pleasure. You see nowadays it is not fashionable to flirt till one is forty, or to be romantic till one is forty-five, so we poor women who are under thirty, or say we are, have nothing open to us but politics or philanthropy.” source
Mrs. Cheveley. Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.
sir robert chiltern. Well, at any rate, may I know if it is politics or pleasure?
Mrs. Cheveley. Politics are my only pleasure. You see nowadays it is not fashionable to flirt till one is forty, or to be romantic till one is forty-five, so we poor women who are under thirty, or say we are, have nothing open to us but politics or philanthropy.” source
Meaning and analysis
