What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
We call the one side [of humanity] religion, and we call the other science. Religion is always right. ... Science is always wrong; it is the very artifice of men. Science can never solve one problem without raising ten more problems.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote contrasts religion and science, suggesting that while religion is seen as infallible, science is inherently flawed and complicated.
George Bernard Shaw's quote explores the dichotomy between religion and science, positioning religion as an absolute truth and science as a flawed endeavor that, despite its attempts to solve problems, often complicates them further. Shaw implies that faith provides certainty and stability, whereas the scientific pursuit leads to a perpetual cycle of new questions and challenges, reflecting a critical view of the limitations and consequences of human rationality.
Themes
ReligionScienceProblemsTruthKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the role of religion and science in society, one may cite Shaw's quote to underline the limitations of scientific inquiry.
More from George Bernard Shaw
All quotes →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
I came to believe that my true identity goes beyond the outer roles I play. It transcends the ego. I came to understand that there is an Authentic 'I' within - an 'I Am,' or divine spark within the soul.
Sue Monk KiddRead
One has to completely humiliate oneself to be what the Beatles were . . . . It happened bit by bit, until . . . you're doing exactly what you don't want to do with people you can't stand -- the people you hated when you were ten.
John LennonRead
One certainty we all accept is the condition of being uncertain and insecure.
Doris LessingRead
When you read about a car crash in which two or three youngsters are killed, do you pause to dwell on the amount of love and treasure and patience parents poured into bodies no longer suitable for open caskets?
Jim BishopRead
There's a safety in thinking in a diner. You can have your coffee or your milkshake, and you can go off into strange dark areas, and always come back to the safety of the diner.
David LynchRead
Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.
Oscar WildeRead