What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Blind faith can lead to false happiness, which may have negative consequences.
In this quote, George Bernard Shaw highlights the dangers of naive belief and unquestioning faith. He suggests that while credulity, or gullibility, may temporarily bring happiness, it can also lead to deception and misguided choices, resulting in long-term negative effects.
Themes
HappinessCredulityBeliefDangerWisdomNaivety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about critical thinking, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of questioning information.
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.
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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?
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Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
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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.
George Bernard ShawRead
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