A man who knows the price of everything and the…
Quote
A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
The story behind this quote
The line comes in Act III of Lady Windermere’s Fan, set late at night in Lord Darlington’s rooms. Lady Windermere, who has left her husband to join Darlington, is hiding behind a curtain when he comes in with a group of friends. The men trade epigrams: Dumby observes that there are only two tragedies in this world, “not getting what one wants” and getting it. “What cynics you fellows are!” says Darlington. Cecil Graham asks: “What is a cynic?” and receives this definition. He retorts at once that a sentimentalist “sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn’t know the market price of any single thing.”
Wilde’s first society comedy opened in London in 1892. Behind the sparkle, the act is tense: Lady Windermere’s fan, left behind in the room, will soon threaten to betray her presence.
The definition has outlived the play. It is still aimed at anyone who judges everything by its cost.
The source
Lady Windermere's Fan, Act III (Lord Darlington), 1892
Checked word for word in the work itself.
More quotes by Oscar Wilde
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Author
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was the wit of late Victorian London. His comedies Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest, and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, are full of paradoxes still quoted today.
Quotes by Oscar Wilde