What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that someone who does not retaliate is not truly forgiving, impacting both your conscience and their own.
George Bernard Shaw's quote warns us against individuals who do not respond to personal offenses. It implies that such a person's silence or lack of retaliation fosters an unspoken tension, as they neither grant you forgiveness nor allow themselves to move past the conflict, ultimately trapping both parties in unresolved feelings of resentment.
Themes
ForgivenessResentmentConflictPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about conflict resolution, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of genuine forgiveness.
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
Men become cannibals of their own hearts; remorse, regret, and restless impatience usurp the place of more wholesome feeling: every thing seems better than that which is.
Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyRead
Let me go: take back thy gift: Why should a man desire in any way To vary from the kindly race of men, Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance Where all should pause, as is most meet for all? ...Why wilt thou ever scare me with thy tears, And make me tremble lest a saying learnt, In days far-off, on that dark earth, be true? βThe Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.β - Tithonus
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
The Christian is the most contented man in the world, but he is the least contented with the world. He is like a traveler in an inn, perfectly satisfied with the inn and its accommodation, considering it as an inn, but putting quite out of all consideration the idea of making it his home.
Charles SpurgeonRead
You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection - you cannot cope with the future.
Eckhart TolleRead
When you realize the real pleasure in food comes in the first couple bites, and it diminishes thereafter, that's a kind of reminder to focus on the experience, enjoy those first bites, and as you get into the 20th bite, you're talking calories and not pleasure.
Michael PollanRead
The world wavered and quivered and threatened to burst into flames.
Virginia WoolfRead