What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Patriotism can often lead to conflict and disruption in the world.
In this quote, George Bernard Shaw suggests that true peace and a quiet world cannot be achieved as long as strong nationalistic feelings, or patriotism, prevail among people. He posits that these feelings can incite divisions, conflicts, and hostilities, indicating that a shift in human values may be necessary for a more harmonious existence.
Themes
PatriotismPeaceHumanityConflictNationalism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for global unity, one could quote Shaw to emphasize the need for overcoming nationalism.
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.
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
In life we sit at the table and refuse to eat, and in death we are eternally hungry.
Nicole KraussRead
Reality lies in the greatest enchantment you have ever experienced.
Hugo Von HofmannsthalRead
In every free and deliberating society, there must, from the nature of man, be opposite parties, and violent dissensions and discords; and one of these, for the most part, must prevail over the other for a longer or shorter time.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires.
SocratesRead
Perhaps that is part of the animals' role among us, to awaken humility, to turn our minds back to the mystery of things, and open our hearts to that most impractical of hopes in which all creation speaks as one.
Matthew ScullyRead
Our beliefs do not sit passively in our brains waiting to be confirmed or contradicted by incoming information. Instead, they play a key role in shaping how we see the world.
Richard WisemanRead