LEARNING FROM G.B.SHAW
The full name of the Irish
playwright and critic G .B. Shaw was George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) , but he
insisted on being called Bernard Shaw.
As a playwright with several plays
to his credit, he was one of greatest literary figures for his revolutionary views
on socio-political themes.
His plays carried long prefaces with
utterly critical ideas. By and large, he was a socialist with a deep interest
in transformation.
He was immensely influenced by the
modern Norwegian playwright, poet and actor Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906).
Shaw wrote over sixty plays and is
best known for the plays like Pygmalion, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman,
Saint Joan, Back to Methuselah, Heartbreak House and The Apple Cart.
Though there is a lot to learn from his
wit and wisdom, given below are a handful of quotes to go through and remember.
1. Money can
cure hunger: it cannot cure unhappiness. Food can satisfy the appetite, but not
the soul.
2. All great
art and literature is propaganda.
3. At 15 I
had nothing childish left about me.
4. A life
spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life
spent doing nothing.
5. The truth
is one thing nobody will believe.
6. Sir:
there are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other
is to gain it.
7. The
prophet is without honor in his own family.
8. Women don’t
always marry for happiness. They often marry because they wish to be married
women not old maids.
9. How much
easier it is to please a great man than a little one.
10. What is
enough for the life of a tramp is not enough for a highly civilized life., with
its personal refinements and its atmosphere of music, art, literature,
religion, science, and philosophy. Of these things we can never have enough:
there is always something new to be discovered and something old to be bettered.
In short, there is no such thing as enough civilization., though there may be
enough of any particular thing like
bread or boots at any particular moment. If being poor means wanting something
better than we have --- and it is hard to say what else feeling poor means ---
then we shall always feel poor no matter how much money we have, because,
though we may have enough of this thing or that thing, we shall never have enough
of everything.
********
G.R.Kanwal
13 June 2025
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