What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that significant actions or changes often require extreme measures, including conflict or violence, to be realized.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects on the harsh reality of human history, positing that many accomplishments or changes in society are often precipitated by conflict and the willingness to confront opposition, sometimes violently. This perspective encourages a deep reflection on the motives behind social progress and the moral complexities of human interactions, suggesting that it takes a serious commitment, even to the point of aggression, to bring about substantial change.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about social reform, one might use this quote to illustrate the lengths that have historically been necessary to effect change.
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.
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.
Similar quotes
Power kills, absolute power kills absolutely.
If you're based in two places, on a bad day you see only the disadvantages everywhere. On a bad day, returning to Germany brings back all kinds of spectres from the past.
The mind of a human being is formed only of comparisons made in order to examine analogies, and therefore cannot precede the existence of memory.
I am a personal optimist but a skeptic about all else. What may sound to some like anger is really nothing more than sympathetic contempt. I view my species with a combination of wonder and pity, and I root for its destruction. And please don't confuse my point of view with cynicism; the real cynics are the ones who tell you everything's gonna be all right.
Human beings can be beautiful. If they are not beautiful it is entirely their own fault. It is what they do to themselves that makes them ugly. The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it.
What else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's part; if I were a swan, I would do as a swan. But now I am a rational creature, and I ought to praise God. This is my work. I do it, nor will I desert my post, so long as I am allowed to keep it. And I ask you to join me in this same song.