What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A person's true beliefs are revealed by their actions rather than their stated beliefs.
This quote by George Bernard Shaw suggests that the genuine convictions of a person are not determined by what they profess to believe, but rather by the underlying assumptions that drive their behavior. It emphasizes the importance of observing actions as a more reliable indicator of belief than mere words, implying that true values and principles are reflected in behavior and choices made in everyday life.
Themes
BeliefsActionsValuesCreedHabits
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about morality, one might use this quote to emphasize that ethical behavior is a reflection of true beliefs.
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.
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
Ah! Wretched and too solitary he who loves not his own company.
Abraham CowleyRead
There is no such thing as an ordinary life.
Mark TwainRead
I maintain that two and two would continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five.
James WhistlerRead
This awful concept of underclass is really horrifying. You're not lower class, you are excluded - outside.
Zygmunt BaumanRead
No one can give a definition of the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the sense of something higher than ourselves, something that stirs in us thoughts, hopes, and aspirations which go out to the world of goodness, truth and beauty. The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it--to remain children of light.
Albert SchweitzerRead
The vast numbers of people who suffer some kind of mental illness under capitalism can either think, 'there is some failing with me, if only I could fit into this system better, if only I were working harder, if only I could enjoy these empty pleasures more, then things would be OK' or 'the problem is with the system that is making me ill.'
Mark FisherRead