What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild' is a snivelling modern invention, with no warrant in the gospels.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the common perception of Jesus as overly gentle and weak, suggesting that such an image is not supported by the biblical texts.
George Bernard Shaw's quote challenges the popular portrayal of Jesus as a gentler figure, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of his character as depicted in the Gospels. Shaw implies that the cultural construct of 'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild' is a diluted interpretation that does not align with the more complex and potentially assertive nature of Jesus as presented in religious texts.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on religious interpretations, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the need for a critical examination of Jesus' portrayal.
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.
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
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?
Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
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The weight of the world is on our shoulders, its vision is through our eyes; if we blink or look aside, or turn back to finger what Plato said or remember Napoleon and his conquests, we inflict on the world the injury of some obliquity. This is life.
The cheapness of wine seems to be a cause, not of drunkenness, but of sobriety. ...People are seldom guilty of excess in what is their daily fare... On the contrary, in the countries which, either from excessive heat or cold, produce no grapes, and where wine consequently is dear and a rarity, drunkenness is a common vice.
Yet man will never be perfect until he learns to create and destroy; he does know how to destroy, and that is half the battle.
Our best built certainties are but sand-houses and subject to damage from any wind of doubt that blows
The issue is not whether there are horrible cases where the penalty seems "right". The real question is whether we will ever design a capital system that reaches only the "right" cases, without dragging in the wrong cases, cases of innocence or cases where death is not proportionate punishment. Slowly, even reluctantly, I have realized the answer to that question is no- we will never get it right.