The Economic Times

Quote of the day by Oscar Wilde: 'Each man kills the thing he loves... The coward does it with a kiss, the brave with a sword' - A disturbing truth about why people hurt those closest to them by the Irish author and poet

Oscar Wildes famous quotes, Yet each man kills the thing he loves, come from his 1898 poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Inspired by the execution of a prisoner he encountered during his own time in jail, the poem explores love, betrayal, guilt and human suffering. Here is the story behind the powerful words, their deeper meaning and the tragic incident that led Wilde to write them.