"Man can believe the impossible, but man can never believe the improbable"

Oscar Wilde’s observation draws a sharp line between what stirs the human imagination and what confounds our sense of likelihood. The impossible sits outside the boundaries of reality; it is adventurous, wholly unattainable by natural laws. Yet, history and mythology both show that people are fascinated by impossibilities. Fantastical tales of flying carpets, immortal beings, or magic rings capture the heart precisely because they defy the mundane constraints of the everyday world. The imagination is not only willing but hungry to embrace the impossible, suspending disbelief in the name of wonder, myth, or faith.

In contrast, the improbable exists within the realm of possibility but stretches toward the unlikely. It doesn’t inspire awe, but skepticism; instead of enchanting, it unsettles. Probability is tied to logic and experience, when something unlikely is suggested, the human mind instinctively resists. Consider coincidences or a stroke of fortune that defies statistical expectation; people often search for hidden motives, explanations, or dismiss the event as fabrication because it feels suspect, whereas the outright impossible gets welcomed as fiction or allegory.

Wilde’s observation also nods toward the contradictions in human psychology. The leap toward fiction, faith, or myth is less challenging than accepting the convolutions that reality sometimes produces. Religious miracles, for example, are believed by millions, not because they are probable, but because they are miraculous, belonging to a different order of truth. Scientific theories, before evidence solidifies them, may languish in doubt if they merely seem improbable, no matter how rational.

Ultimately, Wilde points to a paradox: belief requires not only faith but a certain emotional posture. The impossible is unconstrained, safely distant from fact; it gives permission for belief. But improbability, being tantalizingly close to achievable, triggers rational resistance. Our minds rebel against the unlikely because it feels as though it should make sense , but doesn’t. So, humanity will create dragons and gods, yet doubt the rare, unexplainable fluke that occurs just once in a thousand years.