“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
~ Oscar Wilde
I know the origin of this quotation is hotly debated among the academics of the literary world, but it doesn’t matter to me who uttered its syllables. It is one of my favorite witty quotations, which makes me crack a small grin every time I come across it, because it is loaded with depth and humor but packaged in such few words. I continue to attribute it to Mr. Wilde because until it is definitively proven who said it, I believe it is exactly something this man would have said. I have read the evidence, as I also provide a link below to the same, about Thomas Merton’s work and how his words have been misconstrued and adapted and even mutilated throughout the years, but to me, Oscar Wilde is just much more fun.
If you would like to read the Thomas Merton evidence see below:
English (United States) ·