George Bernard Shaw Quotes
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To endure the pain of living, we all drug ourselves more or less with gin, with literature, with superstitions, with romance, with idealism, political, sentimental, and moral, with every possible preparation of that universal hashish: imagination.
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As to spelling the very frequent word though with six letters instead of two, it is impossible to discuss it, as it is outside the range of common sanity. In comparison such a monstrosity as phlegm for flem is merely disgusting.
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You may well ask me why...I took the time to write [books]. I can only reply that I do not know. There was no why about it. I had to: that was all.
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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.
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All religions begin with a revolt against morality, and perish when morality conquers them.
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Go on writing plays, my boy, One of these days one of these London producers will go into his office and say to his secretary, "Is there a play from Shaw this morning?" and when she says, "No," he will say, "Well, then we'll have to start on the rubbish." And that's your chance, my boy.
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Only where there is pecuniary equality can the distinction of merit stand out.
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Life is too short for men to take it seriously.
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But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.
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With the exception of capitalism, there is nothing so revolting as revolution.
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The practical question, then, is what to do with the children. Tolerate them at home we will not. Let them run loose in the streets we dare not until our streets become safe places for children, which, to our utter shame, they are not at present, though they can hardly be worse than some homes and some schools.
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Has fear ever held a man back from anything he really wanted?
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The philosopher is Nature's pilot.
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No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus.
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If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.
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I find that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical.
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The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die.
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The policy of letting things alone, in the practical sense that the Government should never interfere with business or go into business itself, is called Laisser-faire by economists and politicians. It has broken down so completely in practice that it is now discredited; but it was all the fashion in politics a hundred years ago, and is still influentially advocated by men of business and their backers who naturally would like to be allowed to make money as they please without regard to the interest of the public.
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The unconscious self is the real genius. Your breathing goes wrong the moment your conscious self meddles with it.
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Those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.
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How can you dare teach a man to read until you've taught him everything else first?
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It is not that I am so clever; it is that everyone else is so stupid.
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Is the devil to have all the passions as well as all the good tunes?
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The truth is the one thing that nobody will believe.