What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that some secrets are so obvious that they become common knowledge, yet they remain unacknowledged.
George Bernard Shaw's quote speaks to the irony of certain secrets that, despite being widely speculated upon, are not openly discussed. This phenomenon highlights the complexities of human behavior and social dynamics, where people may choose to ignore or refrain from addressing what is already known or suspected, thereby keeping the 'secret' intact. It suggests a sense of collective understanding that exists outside of verbal acknowledgment, reflecting deeper truths about perception and communication in society.
Themes
SecretsTruthHuman BehaviorSocial DynamicsCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about trust in relationships, this quote can illustrate how some unspoken truths linger beneath the surface.
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.
George Bernard ShawRead
Similar quotes
I believe that the time given to refutation in philosophy is usually time lost. Of the many attacks directed by many thinkers against each other, what now remains? Nothing, or assuredly very little. That which counts and endures is the modicum of positive truth which each contributes. The true statement is, of itself, able to displace the erroneous idea, and becomes, without our having taken the trouble of refuting anyone, the best of refutations.
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Don't consider our interests or desires. You have no duty to anyone but yourself.
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I will tell you why we have these extraordinary minds and souls, Miss Whittaker," he continued, as though he had not heard her. "We have them because there is a supreme intelligence in the universe, which wishes for communion with us. This supreme intelligence longs to be known. It calls out to us. It draws us close to its mystery, and grants us these remarkable minds, in order that we try to reach for it. It wants us to find it. It wants union with us, more than anything.
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Half the world hates What half the world does every day Half the world waits While half gets on with it anyway
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This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,Was once thought honest.
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However much you knock at nature's door, she will never answer you in comprehensible words.
Ivan TurgenevRead