What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the intensity and irrationality of romantic passion and the expectations of love commitments.
George Bernard Shaw highlights the absurdity of societal expectations surrounding romantic love and marriage. He points out that individuals often enter into lifelong commitments during a fleeting, intense emotional state, which may not reflect the stability and reality needed for a lasting partnership. The quote emphasizes the need for more realistic and grounded views on love and relationships.
Themes
LovePassionCommitmentMarriageRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to highlight the complexities of love.
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.
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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.
George Bernard ShawRead
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
George Bernard ShawRead
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