What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
We are the living graves of murdered beasts, slaughtered to satisfy our appetites. How can we hope in this world to attain the peace we say we are so anxious for?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques human consumption and questions the possibility of peace amidst the violence against animals.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects on the ethical implications of humanity's appetite for meat and the consequent violence inflicted upon animals. It challenges us to consider how we can seek peace in our lives while contributing to suffering through our choices, prompting a deeper reflection on morality, compassion, and the interconnectedness of all living beings.
Themes
PeaceViolenceConsumptionEthicsAnimalsMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about animal rights, one could emphasize the need for ethical consumption by quoting Shaw's insight.
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
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
Steven PinkerRead
It is time enough, for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere [in the propagation of religious teachings] when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order.
Thomas JeffersonRead
When a man sees something desirable, he must reflect on the fact that with time it could come to involve what is detestable. When he sees something that is beneficial, he should reflect that sooner or later it, too, could come to involve harm.
XunziRead
We are so afraid of the idea of having to die... that we always try to find excuses for the dead, as if we were asking beforehand to be excused when it is our turn.
Jose SaramagoRead
There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good men.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
God speaks in the language you know best - not through your ears, but through your circumstances.
Oswald ChambersRead