Lady Windermere's Fan Quotes
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Author: Oscar Wilde
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Context
This line is from the play Lady Windemere's Fan, written by Oscar Wilde (1892).
Lady Windermere's fan isn't what she used to cool her body temperature after reading Lady Chatterley's Lover. No, Lady Windemere's Fan is a comedy of manners written by Oscar Wilde. In Act 3, Lord Darlington, Lady Windemere's friend, is talking to Mr. Dumby, a man who thinks all people are good. Yeah, right, Dumby. Darlington tells him, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Where you've heard it
You've heard this from your freegan and/or squatter friends and The Pretenders quote this in their song "Message of Love."
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Just because it was quoted by The Pretenders doesn't make it pretentious, as long as you're not in a penthouse or similar classy locale when you say it.