Today let’s raise a glass of something we can’t afford to the man who was famous for being famous before being famous for being famous was a thing.  Born on this day in 1854, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde slid into the world, presumably with a silk smoking jacket and a perfectly crafted bon mot already on his lips.  He was the literary bad boy your parents warned you about, the guy who could eviscerate your entire existence with a single, devastatingly witty sentence and make you thank him for the privilege.

In case you’re not familiar with the great Oscar Wilde, he is the man who said, “I can resist everything except temptation.”  It’s the 19th-century equivalent of “YOLO,” but with infinitely more class.  He walked through London with a lobster on a leash, not because it was practical, but because it was his vibe.

Wilde’s entire life was a masterclass in personal branding.  He curated his image with the precision of a modern social media master, turning aesthetics into a religion and boredom into the only cardinal sin.  He understood that “to be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”  He basically invented the art of the carefully constructed “candid” before we had Valencia filters.

His work, from The Picture of Dorian Gray to The Importance of Being Earnest, was a manual on how to be fabulously extra.  He gave us character who were vain, cynical, and hopelessly quotable.  He knew that life was too important to be taken seriously.

Of course, society wasn’t quite ready for his level of fabulousness.  They locked him up for being himself, a grim reminder that being ahead of your time is often a lonely and brutal business.  But you can’t cancel a legend.  His wit outlived his enemies, his style continues to inspire, and his words still hit harder than a Victorian duel.

So, happy birthday, Oscar.  You were too much for your own time, and honestly, you might be too much for ours.  You taught us that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.  Fear not, Uncle Oscar…we’re still talking.

Cheers to the man who lived, and died, by the ultimate truth: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

N.P.: “Ring of Fire” – Wuki