What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
All the sweetness of religion is conveyed to the world by the hands of storytellers and image-makers. Without their fictions the truths of religion would for the multitude be neither intelligible nor even apprehensible; and the prophets would prophesy and the teachers teach in vain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Storytellers and artists play a crucial role in making religious ideas accessible and meaningful to the public.
In this quote, Shaw emphasizes the importance of storytellers and image-makers in the dissemination of religious truths. He argues that without the imaginative narratives and representations provided by these individuals, the deeper messages of religion would remain unclear and ungraspable to the average person, rendering the efforts of prophets and teachers ineffective.
Themes
StorytellingReligionArtCommunicationTruth
In practice
Example use cases
During a community gathering, one could quote this to highlight the importance of local artists in sharing spiritual stories.
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.
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