To define is to limit.
Henry resists labels because labels demand shape. For Dorian, this means never committing to a moral name for what he’s doing. The paradox is attractive—it promises endless possibility—but it also dodges accountability. Wilde shows how slippery talk can keep a person from ever saying, “This is who I am.” The line flatters instability as sophistication. It also mocks society’s appetite for neat categories while revealing the risk of having none. Readers see the cost: without definitions, there’s no boundary.