Each man kills the thing he loves - Oscar Wilde

Quote

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.

Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.

Author

Oscar Wilde

Reference

• The Ballad of Reading Gaol
• Full poem here

Related

• The quoted line was a part of a much longer poem written by Wilde after observing an execution of a fellow prisoner for murdering his wife.
• he was imprisoned for 'gross indecency' - homosexuality