What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness is a balance; too much of it can lead to discomfort.
George Bernard Shaw's quote suggests that an unending experience of happiness would actually be unbearable, equating it to a form of hell. It highlights the idea that life requires a mixture of emotions, and that without sadness or challenges, the joy in happiness would diminish, making it intolerable.
Themes
HappinessBalanceLifeEmotionsSuffering
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of emotional balance in life.
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.
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Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
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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.
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