What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
The plain working truth is that it is not only good for people to be shocked occasionally, but absolutely necessary to the progress of society that they should be shocked pretty often.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Shock can lead to necessary change and progress in society.
George Bernard Shaw asserts that experiencing shocks is not just beneficial, but essential for societal advancement. By being confronted with unexpected realities, individuals are prompted to reassess their beliefs and encourage progress through challenge and debate.
Themes
ShockSocietyProgressChangeTruth
In practice
Example use cases
During a public speech on societal issues, one might use this quote to highlight the need for challenging conversations.
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
He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.
Marcus AureliusRead
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
Henry David ThoreauRead
A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.
Oscar WildeRead
I think in our time, you know, so much of the information we get is pre-polarized. Fiction has a way of reminding us that we actually are very similar in our emotions and our neurology and our desires and our fears, so I think it's a nice way to neutralize that polarization.
George SaundersRead
He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God.
William BlakeRead
Man is man so long as he is struggling to rise above nature, and this nature is both internal and external.
Swami VivekanandaRead