"Man can believe the impossible, but man can never believe the improbable"
- Oscar Wilde
About this Quote
This quote by Oscar Wilde speaks with the power of the human imagination and the limits of our capability to believe. It recommends that while we can believe in things that are difficult, such as a world without suffering or a cure for a lethal disease, we can not think in things that are unlikely, such as a world without gravity or a remedy for aging. This quote speaks with the power of our minds to dream and picture, but likewise to the limitations of our ability to accept and think in the difficult. It recommends that while we can imagine a much better world, we must likewise accept the reality of the world we reside in. Eventually, this quote acts as a reminder that while we can pursue the impossible, we need to also accept the unlikely.
"What is real is not the external form, but the essence of things... it is impossible for anyone to express anything essentially real by imitating its exterior surface"
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair"
