QuoteProject
The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.
George Bernard Shaw
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Progress requires free expression and the absence of censorship.

George Bernard Shaw emphasizes that censorship is a significant barrier to societal progress. For any community or society to advance, it must allow the free flow of ideas and open discourse, as limiting expression stifles innovation, creativity, and the exchange of diverse perspectives that drive growth and change.

Themes

ProgressCensorshipFreedomExpressionSocietyInnovation

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion on the importance of free speech during a community meeting.

More from George Bernard Shaw

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
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

Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.
VoltaireRead
But I'm not a saint yet. I'm an alcoholic. I'm a drug addict. I'm homosexual. I'm a genius.
Truman CapoteRead
Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and organs, they become naturally only objects of sense.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.
Michael CrichtonRead
Commerce is a noble profession, and Jews should get over any self-hatred they might harbor from contemplating the capitalist spirit of diaspora Judaism.
Steven PinkerRead
The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.
Marcel ProustRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.