Oscar Wilde

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

From his play, Lady Windemere's Fan (1892).  These words were quoted in the song "Message of Love," which was released by the Pretenders in the U.S. in 1981.

Wilde was one of the most quotable authors of all time -- he had an aphorism for every occasion.  

Here's another Wilde quote:  "Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event."  Which reminds me -- Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Willis Wilde was born on this date in 1854.  

Other notable people born on October 16 include lexicographer Noah Webster, David Ben-Gurion (the first Prime Minister of Israel), playwright Eugene O'Neill, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, actress Angela Lansbury, Watergate figure Charles Colson, "Blonde in the T-Bird" and infomercial star Suzanne Somers, cougar-loving Tim Robbins, basketball great Sue Bird, and my daughters.