Finally, Wilde’s observation can be read as oddly liberating. To be “soon forgotten” for paying bills on time is also to be free from the drama of debts and the dependency of being managed by others’ patience. In practical terms, anonymity can be a form of autonomy: you owe no explanations, cultivate no rescuers, and attract no collectors.
So the epigram closes with an irony typical of Wilde: what seems like a social loss—lack of remembrance—may actually be the quiet reward of competence, a life that works smoothly enough to leave no scandal behind. [...]
