George Bernard Shaw was revered as one of the intellects of his time. He was a published a respected writer as well as a speaker and campaigner for better opportunities and more rights for the lower classes. He didn’t look fondly on the rich and privileged, and when he saw the chance to make them look foolish by highlighting their inadequacies he seized upon it with is razor sharp wit. Here are some of the best quotes from George Bernard Shaw about foolishness.
A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.
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It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.
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To be clever enough to get a great deal of money, one must be stupid enough to want it.
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When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
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If you leave the smallest corner of your mind open for a moment, other people’s opinions will rush in from all quarters.
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The wrong road always leads somewhere.
I’m sorry this letter is so long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter.
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I don’t know if there are men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.
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A man learns to skate by staggering about making a fool of himself. Indeed, he progresses in all things by resolutely making a fool of himself.
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Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.
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Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly about? They are more true: they are the only things that are true.
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I find that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical.
The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself.
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If you injure your neighbour, better not do it by halves.
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Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men.
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Your friends are all the dullest dogs I know. They are not beautiful: they are only decorated. They are not clean: they are only shaved and starched. They are not dignified: they are only fashionably dressed. They are not educated: they are only college passmen. They are not religious: they are only pewrenters. They are not moral: they are only conventional. They are not virtuous: they are only cowardly. They are not even vicious: they are only “frail.” They are not artistic: they are only lascivious. They are not prosperous: they are only rich. They are not loyal, they are only servile; not dutiful, only sheepish; not public spirited, only patriotic; not courageous, only quarrelsome; not determined, only obstinate; not masterful, only domineering; not self-controlled, only obtuse; not self-respecting, only vain; not kind, only sentimental; not social, only gregarious; not considerate, only polite; not intelligent, only opinionated; not progressive, only factious; not imaginative, only superstitious; not just, only vindictive; not generous, only propitiatory; not disciplined, only cowed; and not truthful at all: liars every one of them, to the very backbone of their souls.
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You cannot be a hero without being a coward.
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
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Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.
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I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me.
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I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.
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I enjoy convalescence. It is the part that makes the illness worth while.
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I have my own soul. My own spark of divine fire.
Read about George Bernard Shaw’s life and career
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