The Soul of Man under Socialism is an essay by Oscar Wilde that argues socialism would free people from the burden of living for others, allowing them to develop their individuality and art. He critiques charity and private property while championing individualism. Its witty, elegant prose makes it a thought-provoking listen for anyone interested in politics and aesthetics.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
Transcribed from the 1909 Arthur L. Humphreys edition by David Price, email [email protected] THE SOUL OF MAN LONDON ARTHUR L. HUMPREYS 1900 Second Impression THE SOUL OF MAN The chief advantage that would result from the establishment of Socialism is, undoubtedly, the fact that Socialism would relieve us from that sordid necessity of living for others which, in the present condition of things, presses so hardly upon almost everybody. In fact, scarcely anyone at all escapes. Now and then, in the course of the century, a great man of science, like Darwin; a great poet, like Keats; a fine critical spirit, like M. Renan; a supreme artist, like Flaubert, has been able to isolate himself, to keep himself out of reach of the clamorous claims of others, to stand ‘under the shelter of the wall,’ as Plato puts it, and so to realise the perfection of what was in him, to his own incomparable gain, and to the incomparable and lasting gain of the whole world. These, however, are
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