What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The treatment one receives defines their dignity and identity, rather than their behavior alone.
This quote by George Bernard Shaw highlights the importance of societal treatment and respect in defining a person's identity. It suggests that the core of a person's value lies not just in their actions or behavior but significantly in how they are perceived and treated by others. This serves as a reminder that respect and kindness can elevate individuals, regardless of their social standing or actions.
Themes
TreatmentRespectIdentityDignityBehavior
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social class and dignity, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of respectful treatment.
More from George Bernard Shaw
All quotes →Marriage is good enough for the lower classes: they have facilities for desertion that are denied to us.
George Bernard ShawRead
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
George Bernard ShawRead
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?
George Bernard ShawRead
Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
George Bernard ShawRead
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
George Bernard ShawRead
Similar quotes
Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.
Arthur AsheRead
If you're walking with your lady on the sidewalk, I still like to see a man walking street-side, to protect the lady from traffic. I grew up with that, and I hate to see something like that get lost. I still like to see that a man opens the door. I like those touches of chivalry that are fast disappearing.
Betty WhiteRead
Caring for others is an expression of what it means to be fully human.
Hillary ClintonRead
The beggarly question of parentage--what is it, after all? What does it matter, when you come to think of it, whether a child is yours by blood or not? All the little ones of our time are collectively the children of us adults of the time, and entitled to our general care. That excessive regard of parents for their own children, and their dislike of other people's, is, like class-feeling, patriotism, save-your-own-soul-ism, and other virtues, a mean exclusiveness at bottom.
Thomas HardyRead
Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity; yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage.
Sydney J. HarrisRead
One of the things that the court held in Brown v. Board of Education is that government can't impose a badge of inferiority on some of its citizens. Yet that is exactly what Proposition 8 does with respect to gay and lesbian couples in California.
David BoiesRead