What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights how deeply people can be influenced by their cultural beliefs, often confusing them with universal truths.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects the tendency of individuals to interpret the world through the lens of their own cultural customs. It suggests that people can become so entrenched in their beliefs that they mistake their cultural practices as inherent laws, leading to misunderstandings and a lack of empathy for differing perspectives. This serves as a reminder of the importance of recognizing and respecting the diversity of beliefs and customs that exist across various cultures.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about cultural differences, this quote illustrates the need for understanding others' viewpoints.
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.
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.
I feel nothing but the accursed happiness I have dreaded all my life long: the happiness that comes as life goes, the happiness of yielding and dreaming instead of resisting and doing, the sweetness of the fruit that is going rotten.
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Experience having long taught me the reasonableness of mutual sacrifices of opinion among those who are to act together for any common object, and the expediency of doing what good we can; when we cannot do all we would wish.
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We have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own
Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights; the accumulations of a lifetime gather there