What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
I have very carefully studied Islam and the life of its Prophet (PBUH). I have done so both as a student of history and as a critic. And I have come to conclusion that Muhammad (PBUH) was indeed a great man and a deliverer and benefactor of mankind which was till then writhing under the most agonising Pain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
George Bernard Shaw highlights his respect for Muhammad as a significant historical figure who alleviated human suffering.
In this quote, George Bernard Shaw expresses his thorough study of Islam and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He concludes that Muhammad was a remarkable leader and a source of hope for humanity, which he perceives to have been struggling with great suffering until Muhammad's arrival. Shaw's perspective suggests the transformative impact of Muhammad's teachings on society and underscores the importance of understanding different cultures and religions through study and critical analysis.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a class discussion about influential leaders in history.
More from George Bernard Shaw
All quotes βMarriage is good enough for the lower classes: they have facilities for desertion that are denied to us.
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
Those who talk most about the blessings of marriage and the constancy of its vows are the very people who declare that if the chain were broken and the prisoners left free to choose, the whole social fabric would fly asunder. You cannot have the argument both ways. If the prisoner is happy, why lock him in? If he is not, why pretend that he is?
Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
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I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.
Form as a goal always ends in formalism. For this striving is directed not towards an inside, but towards an outside. But only a living inside has a living outside.
History is for human self-knowledge. Knowing yourself means knowing, first, what it is to be a person; secondly, knowing what it is to be the kind of person you are; and thirdly, knowing what it is to be the person you are and nobody else is. Knowing yourself means knowing what you can do; and since nobody knows what they can do until they try, the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is.