--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My duty as a gentleman has never…" description: "\"My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg" --- # My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my… ![“My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg) > “My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.” [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. A gentleman's sense of duty never conflicts with his enjoyment of life's pleasures, even in the smallest aspects, suggesting a harmonious balance between responsibility and joy. **In simple terms:** Duty and pleasure can coexist. Key Takeaway Blend responsibility with enjoyment. Themes duty pleasure balance Mood witty philosophical Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - daily routines - social etiquette - personal hobbies - work‑life balance - social gatherings Key Concepts ethics hedonism social conduct Questions to Reflect On - How do you integrate joy into obligations? - What small pleasures enrich your day? A Different Perspective Excessive pleasure may undermine duty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Gentleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentleman/) [Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures/) ## Related quotes > [JACK Your duty as a gentleman calls you back. ALGERNON My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/jack-your-duty-as-a-gentleman-calls-you-back-algernon-my-duty-as-a/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [It is the first duty of a gentleman to remember in the morning who he went to bed with the night before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/it-is-the-first-duty-of-a-gentleman-to-remember-in-the-morning-who-he/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-adore-simple-pleasures-they-are-the-last-refuge-of-the-complex/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I have pleasures, and passions, but the joy of life is gone. I am going under: the morgue yawns for me. I go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-have-pleasures-and-passions-but-the-joy-of-life-is-gone-i-am-going/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“I adore simple pleasures,” said Lord Henry. “They are the last refuge of the complex. But I don’t like scenes, except on the stage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-adore-simple-pleasures-said-lord-henry-they-are-the-last-refuge-of/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I am a man of simple pleasures. The best suits me perfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-am-a-man-of-simple-pleasures-the-best-suits-me-perfectly/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“was your father, and a gentleman. Indeed, he was highly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/was-your-father-and-a-gentleman-indeed-he-was-highly/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-a-man-is-a-gentleman-he-knows-quite-enough-and-if-he-is-not-a/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The English country-gentleman galloping after a fox — the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-english-country-gentleman-galloping-after-a-fox-the-unspeakable/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [A gentleman never offends unintentionally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/a-gentleman-never-offends-unintentionally/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/on-an-occasion-of-this-kind-it-becomes-more-than-a-moral-duty-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Every child was taught from his cradle that money was Mammon, the chief agent of the flesh and the devil. As he grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-harding-davis/every-child-was-taught-from-his-cradle-that-money-was-mammon-the/) [Rebecca Harding Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-harding-davis/) > [For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/for-let-me-tell-you-that-the-more-the-pleasures-of-the-body-fade-away/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [One declaims endlessly against the passions; one imputes all of man's suffering to them. One forgets that they are also the source of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/one-declaims-endlessly-against-the-passions-one-imputes-all-of-man-s/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) ## 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. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. 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 Duty quotes > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Few political debates have been as divisive as the European one. I fought as hard as I could on the Remain side, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-green/few-political-debates-have-been-as-divisive-as-the-european-one-i/) [Damian Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-green/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Is that what they teach you at the convent? That the gods demand the hearts from our bodies?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lafevers/is-that-what-they-teach-you-at-the-convent-that-the-gods-demand-the/) [Robin LaFevers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lafevers/) > [The less we show our love to a woman, Or please her less, and neglect our duty, The more we trap and ruin her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/the-less-we-show-our-love-to-a-woman-or-please-her-less-and-neglect/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“You have a right to be sad, and a duty to move on. Only wins who wipes the tears, gather strength and move forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/you-have-a-right-to-be-sad-and-a-duty-to-move-on-only-wins-who-wipes/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eye and earth under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/our-duty-as-christians-is-always-to-keep-heaven-in-our-eye-and-earth/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Regardless of how you feel about war and peace those serving military are doing a duty for the rest of us and they're protecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-cardellini/regardless-of-how-you-feel-about-war-and-peace-those-serving-military/) [Linda Cardellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-cardellini/) > [“Duty is a done deal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/duty-is-a-done-deal/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-do-not-so-much-rejoice-that-god-hath-made-me-to-be-a-queen-as-to-be/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [The whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to God's will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-whole-duty-of-man-is-summed-up-in-obedience-to-god-s-will/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) [Browse all 5,178 Duty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfered-with-my-pleasures-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Duty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfered-with-my-pleasures-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/oscar-wilde-16_duty_my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfe_430651.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.” — 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": "My duty as a gentleman has...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfered-with-my-pleasures-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/my-duty-as-a-gentleman-has-never-interfered-with-my-pleasures-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```