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George Bernard Shaw Quotes - Page 37

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Whenever an obviously well founded statement is made in England by a person specially well acquainted with the facts, that unlucky person is instantly and frantically contradicted by all the people who obviously know

Whenever an obviously well founded statement is made in England by a person specially well acquainted with the facts, that unlucky person is instantly and frantically contradicted by all the people who obviously know nothing about it.

George Bernard Shaw
People, Facts, England

There is nothing in religion but fiction.

George Bernard Shaw
Religious, Religion, Fiction
George Bernard Shaw (2010). “Back to Methuselah”, p.98, The Floating Press

Optimistic lies have such immense therapeutic value that a doctor who cannot tell them convincingly has mistaken his profession.

George Bernard Shaw
Lying, Optimistic, Doctors
1910 Misalliance, preface.

I like a bit of mongrel myself, whether it's a man or a dog.

George Bernard Shaw
Dog, Men, Canine
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Lectures, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more”, p.2956, e-artnow

The conversion of a savage to Christianity is the conversion of Christianity to savagery.

George Bernard Shaw
Savages, Christianity, Conversion
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more”, p.3219, e-artnow

Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill-health.

George Bernard Shaw
Health, Social, Worst
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “George Bernard Shaw: Collected Articles, Lectures, Essays and Letters: Thoughts and Studies from the Renowned Dramaturge and Author of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Pygmalion, Arms and The Man, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion”, p.418, e-artnow

Shall I turn up the light for you? No, give me deeper darkness. Money is not made in the light.

George Bernard Shaw
Light, Giving, Darkness
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more”, p.3660, e-artnow

Great art is never produced for its own sake. It is too difficult to be worth the effort.

George Bernard Shaw
Art, Effort, Sake

Very nice sort of place, Oxford, I should think, for people that like that sort of place. They teach you to be a gentleman there. In the polytechnic they teach you to be an engineer or such like. See?

George Bernard Shaw
Nice, Teaching, Science
Man and Superman (1903) act 2

Life is a disease; and the only difference between on man and another is the stage of the disease at which he lives.

George Bernard Shaw
Life, Men, Differences
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Lectures, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more”, p.3853, e-artnow

Money is indeed the most important thing in the world; and all sound and successful personal and national morality should have this fact for its basis.

George Bernard Shaw
Money, Successful, Should Have
The Irrational Knot (1905) preface

War can so easily be gilt with romance and heroism and solemn national duty and patriotism and the like by persons whose superficial literary and oratorical talent covers an abyss of Godforsaken folly.

George Bernard Shaw
War, Romance, Heroism
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more”, p.4113, e-artnow

We should find ourselves committed to killing a great many people whom we now leave living, and to leave living a great many people whom we at present kill. We should have to get rid of all ideas about capital punishment.

George Bernard Shaw
Punishment, Ideas, Eugenics

There are only two classes in good society in England: the equestrian classes and the neurotic classes.

George Bernard Shaw
Horse, Class, Two
1919 Lady Utterword. Heartbreak House, act 3.

I talk democracy to these men and women. I tell them that they have the vote, and that theirs is the kingdom and the power and the glory. I say to them You are supreme: exercise your power. They say, That's right: tell us what to do; and I tell them. I say Exercise our vote intelligently by voting for me. And they do. That's democracy; and a splendid thing it is too for putting the right men in the right place.

George Bernard Shaw
Exercise, Power, Men
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “George Bernard Shaw: The Collected Plays (Illustrated): 60 plays including Caesar and Cleopatra, Pygmalion, Saint Joan, The Apple Cart, Cymbeline, Androcles And The Lion, The Man Of Destiny, The Inca Of Perusalem and Macbeth Skit”, p.3389, e-artnow

The art of government is the organization of idolatry. The bureaucracy consists of functionaries; the aristocracy, of idols; the democracy, of idolaters. The populace cannot understand the bureaucracy: it can only worship the national idols.

George Bernard Shaw
Art, Government, Idols
Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists: Idolatry"

The British are apt to make merits of their stupidities, and to represent their various incapacities as points of good breeding.

George Bernard Shaw
Funny, Stupidity, Merit
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “George Bernard Shaw: The Collected Plays (Illustrated): 60 plays including Caesar and Cleopatra, Pygmalion, Saint Joan, The Apple Cart, Cymbeline, Androcles And The Lion, The Man Of Destiny, The Inca Of Perusalem and Macbeth Skit”, p.1111, e-artnow

A dinner! How horrible! I am to be made the pretext for killing all those wretched animals and birds, and fish! Thank you for nothing. Now if it were to be a fast instead of a feast; say a solemn three days' abstention from corpses in my honour, I could at least pretend to believe that it was disinterested. Blood sacrifices are not in my line

George Bernard Shaw
Believe, Sacrifice, Animal

It is assumed that the woman must wait, motionless, until she is wooed. That is how the spider waits for the fly.

George Bernard Shaw
Wise, Wisdom, Women
George Bernard Shaw (2015). “The Collected Plays of George Bernard Shaw (Illustrated): Including Renowned Titles like Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, The Inca Of Perusalem, Macbeth Skit, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion”, p.1040, e-artnow

We must not stay as we are, doing always what was done last time, or we shall stick in the mud. Yet neither must we undertake a new world as catastrophic Utopians, and wreck our civilization in our hurry to mend it.

George Bernard Shaw
Civilization, Done, World
George Bernard Shaw (1987). “Back to Methuselah”, p.443, Penguin UK

The one point on which all women are in furious secret rebellion against the existing law is the saddling of the right to a child with the obligation to become the servant of a man.

George Bernard Shaw
Children, Motherhood, Men
'Getting Married' (1911) preface 'The Right to Motherhood'

I am giving you examples of the fact that this creature man, who in his own selfish affairs is a coward to the backbone, will fight for an idea like a hero. . . . I tell you, gentlemen, if you can shew a man a piece of what he now calls God's work to do, and what he will later call by many new names, you can make him entirely reckless of the consequences to himself personally.

George Bernard Shaw
Selfish, Work, Hero

It is necessary for the welfare of society that genius should be privileged to utter sedition, to blaspheme, to outrage good taste, to corrupt the youthful mind, and generally to scandalize one's uncles.

George Bernard Shaw
Uncles, Mind, Genius

Hurrah for revolution and more cannon-shot! A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot. Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again! The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.

George Bernard Shaw
Feet, Goes On, Revolution

I am a brigand: I live by robbing the rich.' 'I am a gentleman: I live by robbing the poor.

George Bernard Shaw
Gentleman, Rich, Poor
1903 Mendoza and John Tanner. Man and Superman, act 3.

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