What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
Every fool believes what his teachers tell him, and calls his credulity science or morality as confidently as his father called it divine revelation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Blind acceptance of ideas from authority figures can lead to misguided beliefs.
In this quote, George Bernard Shaw criticizes the tendency of individuals to uncritically accept teachings from their educators or authoritative figures. He suggests that many people equate their unquestioning faith in these teachings with higher truths, such as moral or scientific principles, just as they might accept their parents' beliefs as divine truth. This highlights the importance of critical thinking and skepticism in education and belief systems.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom discussion on critical thinking, a teacher might use this quote to encourage students to question what they are taught.
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.
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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To be taught to read—what is the use of that, if you know not whether what you read is false or true? To be taught to write or to speak—but what is the use of speaking, if you have nothing to say? To be taught to think—nay, what is the use of being able to think, if you have nothing to think of? But to be taught to see is to gain word and thought at once, and both true.
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The important thing to note is that it is not important whether Malala was shot or not - Malala is not asking for personal favors or support. She is asking for support with girls' education and women's rights. So don't support Malala, support her campaign for girls' education and women's rights.