"'The value of an idea has nothing whatsoever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it ... the more insincere the man is, the more purely intellectual will the idea be, as in that case it will not be colored by either his wants, his desires, or his prejudices'" (11).
Throughout Lord Henry and Basil's conversation, it is evident just how much they view the world differently, resulting in a clash of ideas. As a matter of fact, Lord Henry's ideas seem to contradict not only with Basil's but what most of society would normally believe. However, who's to say he's wrong? Above, he makes a bold statement that initially sounded ridiculous. After reading it again, the statement made sense. We live in a society where people are constantly being persuaded to express more emotion. Here, Lord Henry refutes that claiming that a person's statement becomes invalid once emotions are integrated. Sincerity is a form of emotion and it has an unnecessary purpose. This idea correlates to the bible passage, "let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no" (Mt. 5: 24). There is no need to bring in any factors, such as emotions. One should just say what they mean and mean what they say.
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