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Who really said it

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about

Written by Oscar Wilde 1854–1900 · Irish poet, playwright & wit
Verified Free to reuse

It is a genuine Wilde line from The Picture of Dorian Gray — spoken by the dandy Lord Henry Wotton in Chapter 1 as he needles the painter Basil Hallward for refusing to exhibit Dorian’s portrait. The novel first appeared in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in July 1890 and in expanded book form in 1891, and the epigram is confirmed in the full text of both.

Last verified 7 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about” Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/91), ch. 1 — spoken by Lord Henry Wotton

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Evoking the world of Oscar Wilde — Irish poet, playwright & wit. Theme: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Work
The Picture of Dorian Gray
First published
Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, July 1890; expanded book edition, 1891
Location
Chapter 1
Speaker
Lord Henry Wotton, to Basil Hallward

It is silly of you, for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. A portrait like this would set you far above all the young men in England, and make the old men quite jealous, if old men are ever capable of any emotion.

Lord Henry is trying to persuade Basil to send the portrait of Dorian to a public exhibition; Basil has just said he won’t show it anywhere.

Original magazine text
The 1890 Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine printing on Wikisource
Read Chapter 1 in the Project Gutenberg full text

How we traced it

Public domain

The text of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/1891) is public domain worldwide; Wilde died in 1900.

Fact-check

Attribution notes

This one is genuinely Wilde — but two honest footnotes are worth flagging.

P. T. Barnum / “any publicity is good publicity” related, not the same

The general adage that all publicity is good publicity is often pinned on the showman P. T. Barnum, and people occasionally reach for that name for this line too. But the exact epigram is Wilde’s, from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 1 ↗; the Barnum saying is a separate, undocumented attribution.

Wilde speaking in his own person

The words are spoken by the fictional Lord Henry Wotton, Wilde’s cynical dandy, in dialogue with Basil Hallward ↗ — so it is Wilde’s writing, but delivered as a character’s epigram rather than a personal maxim.

The credit to Oscar Wilde is correct: the line is his, from The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/91) ↗, Chapter 1.

Context

Why it stuck

Lord Henry Wotton is Wilde’s mouthpiece for polished cynicism, and this paradox — that obscurity is worse than scandal — captures the novel’s fascination with reputation, surface and being seen. It reads as a joke and a thesis at once.

The line has since become a favourite in public-relations and celebrity culture, quoted as the original defence of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Truth Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

The Picture of Dorian Gray — full text (Project Gutenberg)gutenberg.org

Public-domain full text of the 1891 book edition; the line is in Chapter I.
The 1890 Lippincott's Monthly Magazine printingwikisource.org

The novel as it first appeared in print, July 1890.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (overview & publication history)wikipedia.org

Confirms the 1890 magazine and 1891 book editions and the novel's characters.
Oscar Wilde — biographywikipedia.org

Life and works of the author (1854–1900).
Chapter 1 reading textliteraturepage.com

Chapter 1 text showing the line in its dialogue between Lord Henry and Basil.

The true author

About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

1854–1900 · Irish poet, playwright & wit

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet and dramatist celebrated for his glittering wit and epigrammatic paradoxes. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/91) was his only novel; his comedies Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest made him the most quotable playwright of the London stage. Many of his sharpest lines — like this one — are voiced by his characters rather than delivered in his own person.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, chap. 1 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1891); first published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine 46 (July 1890).

MLA (9th ed.)

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ward, Lock & Co., 1891, chap. 1.

APA (7th ed.)

Wilde, O. (1891). The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ward, Lock & Co.

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