--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only horrible thing in the world is…" description: "\"The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg" --- # The only horrible thing in the world is ennui. ![“The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg) > “The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.” [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 worst affliction is boredom, which robs life of meaning and joy **In simple terms:** Boredom is the greatest evil Key Takeaway Combat boredom with purposeful activity Themes boredom meaning purpose Mood reflective critical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career development - creative hobbies - community involvement - learning new skills Key Concepts Existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What activities bring you genuine excitement? - How does boredom signal a need for change? A Different Perspective Purposeful activity can feel forced if not authentic ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Horrible Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-thing-264605/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-ennui-3954925/) ## Related quotes > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Malnutriton is a horrible thing - Andrew Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/malnutriton-is-a-horrible-thing-andrew-smith/) [Author Name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/author-name/) > [I generally don't like living in a world where being what a man is, is a horrible thing; and no matter what a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-o-neal/i-generally-don-t-like-living-in-a-world-where-being-what-a-man-is-is/) [Patrice O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-o-neal/) > [Bullying is a horrible thing. It sticks with you forever. It poisons you. But only if you let it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-brewer/bullying-is-a-horrible-thing-it-sticks-with-you-forever-it-poisons/) [Heather Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-brewer/) > [Panic is a horrible thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaclyn-smith/panic-is-a-horrible-thing/) [Jaclyn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaclyn-smith/) > [“I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-am-tired-of-myself-tonight-i-should-like-to-be-somebody-else/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Ennui is the enemy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/ennui-is-the-enemy/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Don't tell me that you have exhausted Life. When a man says that, one knows that life has exhausted him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/don-t-tell-me-that-you-have-exhausted-life-when-a-man-says-that-one/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Confidence is a horrible thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-merson/confidence-is-a-horrible-thing/) [Paul Merson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-merson/) > [“She wasn't sure what Mississippi was, but it must be a horrible thing if it was used as a mantra for the guns”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ringo/she-wasn-t-sure-what-mississippi-was-but-it-must-be-a-horrible-thing/) [John Ringo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ringo/) > [What a horrible thing yellow is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/what-a-horrible-thing-yellow-is/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I really think that discrimination and racism is a horrible thing. And I don't want any form of it in our government, in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-really-think-that-discrimination-and-racism-is-a-horrible-thing-and/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [The end of one horrible thing in your life is usually an indication that the start of some truly amazing thing to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/the-end-of-one-horrible-thing-in-your-life-is-usually-an-indication/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Like almost every truly horrible thing that has ever happened in the history of our world, the end also began with a kiss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-sharpe/like-almost-every-truly-horrible-thing-that-has-ever-happened-in-the/) [Dennis Sharpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-sharpe/) > [A war is a horrible thing, but it's also a unifier of countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/a-war-is-a-horrible-thing-but-it-s-also-a-unifier-of-countries/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) ## 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 Ennui quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [In the aftermath of 9/11, people had not a good time, but a deep, profound, rousing time, woke up from their ennui and isolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-the-aftermath-of-9-11-people-had-not-a-good-time-but-a-deep/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-love-to-read-is-to-exchange-hours-of-ennui-for-hours-of-delight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Sitting to think of what to write will only set your ass on fire, give you headache, twist your face to look stupid, instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/sitting-to-think-of-what-to-write-will-only-set-your-ass-on-fire-give/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [You cannot give me an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time contriving not to have tedious hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-cannot-give-me-an-instance-of-any-man-who-is-permitted-to-lay-out/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Pain, indolence, sterility, endless ennui have also their lesson for you, if you are great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/pain-indolence-sterility-endless-ennui-have-also-their-lesson-for-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life creates itself in delirium and is undone in ennui.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/life-creates-itself-in-delirium-and-is-undone-in-ennui/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [“She could, she thinks, have entered a different life. She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-could-she-thinks-have-entered-a-different-life-she-could-have-had/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [As the gout seems privileged to attack the bodies of the wealthy, so ennui seems to exert a similar prerogative over their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/as-the-gout-seems-privileged-to-attack-the-bodies-of-the-wealthy-so/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“It seemed to Rosa Lublin that the whole peninsula of Florida was weighted down with regret. Everyone had left behind a real life. Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/it-seemed-to-rosa-lublin-that-the-whole-peninsula-of-florida-was/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [If you want to live in 'white world,' if you want to experience the stultifying boredom and penetrating ennui that homogeneity can bring, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-proops/if-you-want-to-live-in-white-world-if-you-want-to-experience-the/) [Greg Proops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-proops/) > [Rousseau and his disciples were resolved to force men to be free; in most of the world, they triumphed; men are set free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/rousseau-and-his-disciples-were-resolved-to-force-men-to-be-free-in/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Condition de l'homme: inconstance, ennui, inquie tude. Man's condition. Inconstancy, boredom, anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/condition-de-l-homme-inconstance-ennui-inquie-tude-man-s-condition/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Browse all 132 Ennui quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is-ennui/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ennui" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is-ennui/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/oscar-wilde-16_ennui_the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is_2875284.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.” — 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": "The only horrible thing in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is-ennui/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-horrible-thing-in-the-world-is-ennui/#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 } } ] } ```