QuoteProject
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.
George Bernard Shaw
ShareWTF𝕏

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

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
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

The Gods on the death of his wife Yang Kai-hui I lost my proud poplar and you your willow As poplar and willow they soar straight up into the ninth heaven and ask the prisoner of the moon, Wu Kang' what is there. He offers them wine from the cassia tree. The lonely lady on the moon, Chang 0, spreads her vast sleeves and dances for these good souls in the unending sky. Down on earth a sudden report of the tiger's defeat. Tears fly down from a great upturned bowl of rain.
Mao ZedongRead
I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.
Marcus Porcius CatoRead
The fate of a nation depends on the way that they eat.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-SavarinRead
Once thing goes wrong, then the whole house of cards collapses. And there's no way you can extricate yourself. Until someone comes along to drag you out.
Haruki MurakamiRead
If you look around, you can find a face of God in each thing, because He is not hidden in a church, in a mosque, or a synagogue, but everywhere. As there is no one who lives after seeing him, there is also no one dying after seeing him. Who finds Him, stays forever with him.
Shams TabriziRead
If you look at other countries, you see they have different values: defend more, pass the ball out more, winning is holy. In England, you could say that sport itself is holy. They say, 'Look, guys, it's about more than just winning.'
Johan CruyffRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.