"You see things, and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say, ‘Why not?'"
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
― George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
― George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“Why should we take advice on sex from the pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn't!”
― George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
― George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world.”
― George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. "
-George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"A mind of the calibre of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.”
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"Den som kan, gjør det. Den som ikke kan, underviser i det."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“If there was nothing wrong in the world there wouldn’t be anything for us to do.”
– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"What is the matter with the poor is poverty; what is the matter with the rich is uselessness."
– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“If the prison does not underbid the slum in human misery, the slum will empty and the prison will fill."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable"
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"By art teaching I hasten to say that I do not mean giving children lessons in freehand drawing and perspective. I am simply calling attention to the fact that fine art is the only teacher except torture. I have already pointed out that nobody, except under threat of torture, can read a school book. The reason is that a school book is not a work of art. Similarly, you cannot listen to a lesson or a sermon unless the teacher or the preacher is an artist."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"Christmas is forced upon a reluctant and disgusted nation by the shopkeepers and the press; on its own merits it would wither and shrivel in the fiery breath of universal hatred."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"...worshippers cannot bear to be told that their hero was not the founder of a dynasty. But in art the highest success is to be the last of your race, not the first. Anybody, almost, can make a beginning: the difficulty is to make an end—to do what cannot be bettered."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"Well printed books are just as scarce as well written ones, and every author should remember that the most costly books derive their value from the craft of the printer and not from the author's genius."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"the British and Americans are two peoples separated by a common language..."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"...Anybody, almost, can make a beginning: the difficulty is to make an end—to do what cannot be bettered."
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”
— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)