Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“The only possible society is oneself.”
- Source
- An Ideal Husband
- Date
- 1895
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Lord Goring
Meaning of “The only possible society is oneself.”
The comic exaggeration makes self-company part of Wilde’s joke about society while still centering comfort with oneself.
Where does it come from?
An Ideal Husband, Act III; Lord Goring tells Phipps “The only possible society is oneself” immediately before the lifelong-romance epigram. Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act III transcription and Project Gutenberg #885; the line remains dandyish comic character speech rather than uncomplicated authorial doctrine.
Why the local voice matters
An Ideal Husband, Act III, spoken by Lord Goring immediately before the lifelong-romance line.
