Quotes by Shaw, George Bernard

"A man's interest in the world is only an overflow from his interest in himself."

Shaw, George Bernard on interest   

"Never waste jealousy on a real man: it is the imaginary man that supplants us all in the long run."

Shaw, George Bernard on jealousy   

"My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world."

Shaw, George Bernard on jokes and jokers
3 fans of this quote   

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"Suppose the world were only one of God's jokes, would you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of a bad one?"

Shaw, George Bernard on jokes and jokers
3 fans of this quote   

"The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die."

Shaw, George Bernard on joy   

"The Jews generally give value. They make you pay; but they deliver the goods. In my experience the men who want something for nothing are invariably Christians."

Shaw, George Bernard on judaism and jews
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"Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination."

Shaw, George Bernard on kings
6 fans of this quote   

"The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it."

Shaw, George Bernard on language   

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"If the announcer can produce the impression that he is a gentlemen, he may pronounce as he pleases."

Shaw, George Bernard on language   

"Whenever you wish to do anything against the law, Cicely, always consult a good solicitor first."

Shaw, George Bernard on law and lawyers   

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"Leisure may be defined as free activity, labor as compulsory activity. Leisure does what it likes, labor does what it must, the compulsion being that of Nature, which in these latitudes leaves men no choice between labor and starvation."

Shaw, George Bernard on leisure   

"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."

Shaw, George Bernard on liberty
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"The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else."

Shaw, George Bernard on lies and lying
6 fans of this quote   

"Life is a disease; and the only difference between one man and another is the stage of the disease at which he lives. You are always at the crisis: I am always in the convalescent stage."

Shaw, George Bernard on life   

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

Shaw, George Bernard on life   

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"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

Shaw, George Bernard on life   

"Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long."

Shaw, George Bernard on achievement
5 fans of this quote   

"In Heaven an angel is nobody in particular."

Shaw, George Bernard on angels
4 fans of this quote   

"In literature the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language: the struggle of the adept is to get rid of it."

Shaw, George Bernard on literature   

"The fickleness of the women I love is only equaled by the infernal constancy of the women who love me."

Shaw, George Bernard on love   

"First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity: no really self-respecting woman would take advantage of it."

Shaw, George Bernard on love   

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"We want a few mad people now. See where the sane ones have landed us!"

Shaw, George Bernard on madness
4 fans of this quote   

"The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."

Shaw, George Bernard on manners   

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"There is no subject on which more dangerous nonsense is talked and thought than marriage."

Shaw, George Bernard on marriage   

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"Marriage is popular because it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity."

Shaw, George Bernard on marriage   

"It is a woman's business to get married as soon as possible, and a man's to keep unmarried as long as he can."

Shaw, George Bernard on marriage   

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"When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part."

Shaw, George Bernard on marriage
3 fans of this quote   

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"Reminiscences make one feel so deliciously aged and sad."

Shaw, George Bernard on memory   

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"Man is the only animal of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid of."

Shaw, George Bernard on men   

"If women were as fastidious as men, morally or physically, there would be an end of the race."

Shaw, George Bernard on women   

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"I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle-class morality."

Shaw, George Bernard on middle class   

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"A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle."

Shaw, George Bernard on miracles
3 fans of this quote   

"The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not."

Shaw, George Bernard on misers and misery   

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

Shaw, George Bernard on mistakes
6 fans of this quote   

"Lack of money is the root of all evil."

Shaw, George Bernard on money   

"Money is indeed the most important thing in the world; and all sound and successful personal and national morality should have this fact for its basis."

Shaw, George Bernard on money   

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"Money is the most important thing in the world. It represents health, strength, honor, generosity, and beauty as conspicuously as the want of it represents illness, weakness, disgrace, meanness, and ugliness."

Shaw, George Bernard on money   

"The universal regard for money is the one hopeful fact in our civilization. Money is the most important thing in the world. It represents health, strength, honor, generosity and beauty. Not the least of its virtues is that it destroys base people as certainly as it fortifies and dignifies noble people."

Shaw, George Bernard on money   

"Morality is suspecting other people of not being legally married."

Shaw, George Bernard on morality   

"An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable."

Shaw, George Bernard on morality   

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