“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance“
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Irish Playwright, Critic, Polemicist & Political Activist
Never has a quote been so true for today – 2021.
Nobel prize winner for Literature (1925). Huge influence over Western theatre, culture and politics
George Bernard Shaw – Irish Playwright
1856 – 1950
Born in Dublin & moved to London when he was 20.
He became a respected theatre & music critic
He wrote more than 60 plays including Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan (1923).
He joined the gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent pamphleteer (a socialist organisation).
He used his plays to spread his political, social, and religious ideas.
He expressed contentious views including:
- Eugenics – Improving human genetics by excluding people judged to be inferior
- Alphabet reform
- Opposed Vaccination
- Opposed organised religion
- He denounced both sides in World War 1
1938 he wrote the screenplay for Pygmalion which received an Academy Award.
He later denounced socialism and spoke favourably of dictatorships showing admiration for Mussolini & Stalin.
He wrote politically right up to his death aged 94 & refused all honours offered.
He has been rated as one of best British dramatists, second only to Shakespeare.
The word Shavian has entered the language as encapsulating Shaw’s ideas and his means of expressing them.
Other Quotes:
“Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get.“
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing“
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.“
Don’t lose faith. Promise yourself that you will be a success story, and I promise you that all the forces of the universe will unite to come to your aid; you might not feel today or for a while, but the longer you wait the bigger the prize.
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it
“Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making the same one a second time.“
“The longer I live, the more convinced am I that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum“
Died aged 94 – Renal failure after a fall.