Rec: The Soul of Man

[sigune]

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Read, adore, and believe.

Title: The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Author: Oscar Wilde
Genre: Meta, essay
Word count: 14,500
Rating: G, but if you are under 16 you probably won't grasp everything ;-)
Warnings: anti-authoritarianism, self-reliance, civil disobedience
Summary: "A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing."

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Comments

[corvus-coronis.livejournal.com]

*saves page*

Thanks for the link!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Enjoy! :D

[sophierom.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating essay! Before I say anything else, I must admit that I only read the first half closely and then skimmed the rest because I've got to get going. But I had to pop back over here and thank you for posting the link to the article. I don't know much about Wilde; what I read here blew me away. I especially loved how he turned Locke on his head by saying that private property limited individualism. I'm not sure what I think of that, but it's so fresh and eye-opening for me. I was also fascinated by his interpretation of the New Testament. Be yourself. What a great message, so much more hopeful than repent and be saved! There's a great deal to think about here. Thanks again!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading!

I have to confess that this is the essay that made me fall in love with Wilde; before reading it I was merely fond of him :D. Now that I have rediscovered it and am using it in my current chapter, I have fallen in love all over again.

I mean, you know that these things he proposes are quite impossible to attain, but ... maybe that's why I like him so much :-).

It is mentally and morally injurious to man to do anything in which he does not find pleasure, and many forms of labour are quite pleasureless activities, and should be regarded as such. ...Man is made for something better than disturbing dirt. All work of that kind should be done by a machine.

One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

[anaxarette.livejournal.com]

omfg ... thats just brilliant.

*saves* thank for sharing.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading! :D

I can't help trying to convert people to the Cult of Wilde... ;P