A red rose is not selfish in wanting to be a red rose Oscar Wilde eminent Irish writer poet and playwright The full quote is A red rose is not selfish in wanting to be a red rose It would be terribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be red roses Oscar Wilde characterized by his sharp wit precise syllable and murderous irony is true to himself The phrase is taken from his work The Soul of Man and the Prison Confession The meaning of the quote as O Wilde himself explains selfishness is not about living as one wishes but about demanding that others live and think as we think is right