What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
If you strike a child, take care that you strike it in anger, even at the risk of maiming it for life. A blow in cold blood neither can nor should be forgiven.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses the moral considerations of inflicting harm, particularly on children, emphasizing the weight of intentionality in such actions.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects on the serious implications of violence, especially towards vulnerable individuals like children. It suggests that when one acts in a moment of anger, there is some element of humanity in the response, but a calculated act of violence performed in cold blood is unforgivable. This highlights the differencing moral weight of actions based on emotional intention.
Themes
ViolenceChildrenMoral ResponsibilityAngerForgiveness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a seminar on child psychology to emphasize the importance of emotional awareness in parenting.
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
Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering – for us. And calling us to share in God’s suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.
Henri NouwenRead
Do you know what religion is, Martin, my friend? -I can barely remember Lord's Prayer. -A beautiful and well-crafted prayer. Poetry aside, a religion is really a moral code that is expressed through legends,myths, or any type of literary device in order to establish a system of beliefs, values , and rules with which to regulate a culture or a society.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
He is a true fugitive who flies from reason.
Marcus AureliusRead
Your house is your larger body.
Khalil GibranRead
The president is the high priest of what sociologist Robert Bellah calls the 'American civil religion.' The president must invoke the name of God (though not Jesus), glorify America's heroes and history,quote its sacred texts (the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution), and perform the transubstantiation of pluribus unum.
Jonathan HaidtRead
Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.
C. S. LewisRead