Anthony Gottlieb reminds us, in . . .

Oscar Wilde

(Image from Official Web Site)

. . . his review of Peter Toohey's Boredom: A Lively History, that:

In Oscar Wilde's play "A Woman of No Importance," Lord Illingworth says of society: "To be in it is merely a bore. But to be out of it simply a tragedy."

Gottlieb calls this to mind in his New York Times article "Why Life is So Boring" (May 27, 2011), and it's the most interesting thing that he or Toohey have to say, though neither he nor Toohey personally uttered it, but I won't bore you with any of their own quotes.

Nor will I bore you with talk about my time currently spent grading 50 essays, an academic duty that, tragically, keeps me from my otherwise busy social whirl . . .