What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the superficial interpretation of complex subjects by those who lack understanding.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects on how a fool misinterprets profound knowledge, reducing philosophy to foolishness, science to superstition, and art to mere pedantry. He critiques university education for potentially perpetuating this cycle, highlighting the danger of shallow learning and the importance of true understanding.
Themes
EducationKnowledgePhilosophyScienceArtFoolishness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about critical thinking, you might use this quote to emphasize how important it is to deeply understand the subjects we study.
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.
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
Education is identical with helping the child realize his potentialities. The opposite of education is manipulation, which is based on the absence of faith in the growth of potentialities and the connection that a child will be right only if the adults put into him what is desirable and suppress what seems to be undesirable.
Erich FrommRead
I'm sure I am impatient sometimes. I sure do get angry sometimes. I think it's outrageous how hard it is to get this country to feed its children and to take care of its children, to give them a decent education.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
Although I'm not actually embarrassed by this, I tend not to read books that have awesome movies made from them, regardless of how well or badly the movie represented the actual written story.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
When I was in New York after I left the Army, I studied for two years at the American Theater Wing, studied acting, which involved dance and fencing and speech classes and history of theater, all that.
James Earl JonesRead
Karate is the best thing you can do for your child.
Chuck NorrisRead
In many professions, what used to matter most were abilities associated with the left side of the brain: linear, sequential, spreadsheet kind of faculties. Those still matter, but they're not enough.
Daniel H. PinkRead