What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
Life on board a pleasure steamer violates every moral and physical condition of healthy life except fresh air. . . . It is a guzzling, lounging, gambling, dog's life. The only alternative to excitement is irritability.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Shaw criticizes the superficial and unhealthy lifestyle on pleasure steamers, highlighting the negative aspects of such indulgence.
In this quote, George Bernard Shaw reflects on the morally and physically detrimental lifestyle experienced aboard pleasure steamers, where the indulgence in leisure activities leads to a stagnant and unhealthy existence. He suggests that while fresh air might be a positive aspect, the overall experience is characterized by excess, idleness, and a lack of fulfilling pursuits, resulting in irritability for those who seek more than just idle pleasure.
Themes
PleasureLifeIndulgenceExistenceIrritability
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of a balanced lifestyle, one might quote Shaw to emphasize the downsides of purely hedonistic living.
More from George Bernard Shaw
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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?
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Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
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The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
George Bernard ShawRead
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