--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had uttered a mad wish that he himself…" description: "\"He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg" --- # He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain… ![“He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the painted image might be seared with the lines of suffering and thought, and that he might keep all the delicate bloom and loveliness of his then just…” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg) > “He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the painted image might be seared with the lines of suffering and thought, and that he might keep all the delicate bloom and loveliness of his then just conscious boyhood.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker wishes to stay pure while his art absorbs his flaws, hoping the canvas bears his suffering instead of him. **In simple terms:** He wants his art to take his sins, preserving his innocence. Key Takeaway Protect your integrity by channeling flaws into work. Themes purity art self‑sacrifice innocence Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - personal crisis - emotional healing Key Concepts moral burden symbolism self‑projection Questions to Reflect On - Can art truly bear the weight of a creator’s sins? - What does preserving innocence cost? A Different Perspective Art cannot fully shield one from personal consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Boyhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boyhood/) [Burden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burden/) [Burden Passions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burden-passions-2485172/) [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Delicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delicate/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Loveliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loveliness/) [Mad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mad/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Painted Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painted-image-1188252/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sins Painted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sins-painted-1188250/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-thought-2485171/) [Untarnished Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/untarnished-face-2485173/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [“What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/what-the-worm-was-to-the-corpse-his-sins-would-be-to-the-painted-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas. 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She had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-reynard/she-promised-new-tantalizing-diversions-she-whispered-words-of-raw/) [Sylvain Reynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-reynard/) > [“In spite of my suffering, at the thought that I was sure to end up by killing myself, I cried aloud and burst into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/in-spite-of-my-suffering-at-the-thought-that-i-was-sure-to-end-up-by/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“of the purely sensuous instinct of boyhood had been transformed by the workings of the imagination, changed into something that seemed to the lad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/of-the-purely-sensuous-instinct-of-boyhood-had-been-transformed-by/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“At least, I have not made my heart a heart of stone, Nor starved my boyhood of is goodly feast, Nor walked where beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/at-least-i-have-not-made-my-heart-a-heart-of-stone-nor-starved-my/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also. You, Mr. Gray, you yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-in-the-brain-and-the-brain-only-that-the-great-sins-of-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. 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It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the painted image might be seared with the lines of suffering and thought, and that he might keep all the delicate bloom and loveliness of his then just conscious boyhood.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himself-might-remain-untarnished/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himself-might-remain-untarnished/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/oscar-wilde-16_age_he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himsel_249386.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the…” — Oscar Wilde", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Oscar Wilde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He had uttered a mad wish...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himself-might-remain-untarnished/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/he-had-uttered-a-mad-wish-that-he-himself-might-remain-untarnished/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```