Quotes By Author
Quotations By George Bernard Shaw
Affection
All my life affection has been showered upon me, and every forward step I have made has been taken in spite of it.
Age
Any person under the age of thirty, who, having any knowledge of the existing social order, is not a revolutionist, is an inferior.
Alcohol
I'm only a beer teetotaler, not a champagne teetotaler. I don't like beer. -- George Bernard Shaw
Capitalism
Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force.
Change
Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
Change
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Communication
The problem with communication ... is the illusion that it has been accomplished.
Communication
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
Cowardice
Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice.
Cynicism
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
Danger
In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it.
Desire
There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.
Desire
I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me.
Diligence
When I was young I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures, so I did ten times more work.
Doctor
The doctor learns that if he gets ahead of the superstitions of his patients he is a ruined man; and the result is that he instinctively takes care not to get ahead of them.
Dreams
You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"
Duty
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
Earth
I don't know if there are men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.
Education
He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
Evolution
All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.
Faith
We have not lost faith, but we have transferred it from God to the medical profession.
Family
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
Family
If parents would only realize how they bore their children! -- George Bernard Shaw
Law
Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes; our power wielded by cowards and weaklings; and our honour false in all its points. I am an enemy of the existing order for good reasons.
Love
First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity: no really self-respecting woman would take advantage of it.
Morals
An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable. -- George Bernard Shaw
Silence
Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
Success
I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in courtship. I like a state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind.
Taste
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same. -- George Bernard Shaw
Virtue
The love of economy is the root of all virtue. -- George Bernard Shaw
Wealth
Money is the most important thing in the world. It represents health, strength, honor, generosity and beauty as conspicuously as the want of it represents illness, weakness, disgrace, meanness and ugliness.
Wealth
The seven deadly sins...Food, clothing, firing, rent, taxes,respectability and children. Nothing can lift those seven millstones from man's neck but money; and the spirit cannot soar until the millstones are lifted. -- George Bernard Shaw
Wickedness
Two starving men cannot be twice as hungry as one; but two rascals can be ten times as vicious as one.
Wit
Find enough clever things to say, and you're a Prime Minister; write them down and you're a Shakespeare.
Writing
The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and about all time. -- George Bernard Shaw
Writing
Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads. -- George Bernard Shaw