What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
Of the three official objects of our prison system: vengeance, deterrence, and reformation of the criminal, only one is achieved; and that is the one which is nakedly abominable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the prison system, highlighting that while it aims for vengeance, deterrence, and reformation, only vengeance is realized, which is morally objectionable.
George Bernard Shaw's quote reflects a profound criticism of the prison system, suggesting that its main objectives—vengeance, deterrence, and rehabilitation of criminals—are flawed. Shaw argues that only the goal of vengeance is effectively met, a realization that he deems morally unacceptable. This commentary invites readers to question the ethical implications of punishment and prompts a re-evaluation of justice and rehabilitation in society.
Themes
PrisonJusticeVengeanceRehabilitationDeterrence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about criminal justice reform, this quote could illustrate the need for a transformative approach rather than punitive measures.
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
First and last follow each other.
LaoziRead
Our age is one of transition, in which the normal channels for utilizing the daimonic are denied; and such ages tend to be times when the daimonic is expressed in its most destructive form.
Rollo MayRead
I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God.
Elisabeth ElliotRead
The psychotic does not merely think he sees four blue bivalves with floppy wings wandering up the wall; he does see them. An hallucination is not, strictly speaking, manufactured in the brain; it is received by the brain, like any 'real' sense datum, and the patient act in response to this to-him-very-real perception of reality in as logical a way as we do to our sense data. In any way to suppose he only 'thinks he sees it' is to misunderstand totally the experience of psychosis.
Philip K. DickRead
At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.
BonoRead
How can you thank a man for giving you what's already yours? How then can you thank him for giving you only part of what's already yours?
Malcolm XRead