Background Image
...
Only Where There Is Pecuniary Equality Can The Distinction Of Merit Stand Out.
-George Bernard Shaw
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

Only Where There Is

George Bernard Shaw
...
Only Where There Is Pecuniary Equality Can The Distinction Of Merit Stand Out.

Understanding the Quote: "only where there is pecuniary equality can the distinction of merit stand..."

This quote by George Bernard Shaw reflects deeply on the theme of merit. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Merit, Standing Out, Distinction, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how George Bernard Shaw interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw is celebrated for insightful thoughts on merit and standing out. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 7
Topic
Merit
Standing Out
Distinction
More From George Bernard Shaw
We Must Not Stay As We Are, Doing Always What Was Done Last Time, Or We Shall Stick In The Mud. Yet Neither Must We Undertake A New World As Catastrophic Utopians, And Wreck Our Civilization In Our Hurry To Mend It.
Civilization
Done
World
An Author Who Gives A Manager Or Publisher Any Rights In His Work Except Those Immediately And Specifically Required For Its Publication Or Performance Is For Business Purposes An Imbecile.
Rights
Giving
Purpose
I No Longer Desire Happiness: Life Is Nobler Than That.
Desire
Life Is
Life Happiness
I Must Remind You That Our Credulity Is Not To Be Measured By The Truth Of The Things We Believe. When Men Believed That The Earthwas Flat, They Were Not Credulous: They Were Using Their Common Sense, And, If Asked To Prove That The Earth Was Flat, Would Have Said Simply, "look At It." Those Who Refuse To Believe That It Is Round Are Exercising A Wholesome Skepticism.
Believe
Exercise
Men
Justice Is Justice Though It's Always Delayed And Finally Done Only By Mistake.
Mistake
Justice
Done
A True Artist Will Let His Wife Starve, His Children Go Barefoot, His Mother Drudge For His Living At Seventy, Sooner Than Work At Anything But His Art.
Mother
Art
Children
Like Fingerprints, All Marriages Are Different.
Marriage
Different
Fingerprints
The Utmost I Can Bear For Myself In My Best Days Is That I Was One Of The Hundred Best Playwrights In The World, Which Is Hardly A Supreme Distinction.
World
Bears
Hundred
In An Ugly And Unhappy World The Richest Man Can Purchase Nothing But Ugliness And Unhappiness.
Men
Unhappy
World
[...] Any Fool Can Make A Discovery. Every Baby Has To Discover More In The First Years Of Its Life Than Roger Bacon Ever Discovered In His Laboratory.
Baby
Science
Technology
I Am Enclosing Two Tickets To The First Night Of My New Play; Bring A Friend... If You Have One.
Life
Night
Play
My Way Of Joking Is To Tell The Truth
Truth
Boxing
Joking Around
Oh, Well, If You Want Original Conversations, You'd Better Go And Talk To Yourself.
Want
Conversation
Oh Well
The English Are Not A Very Spiritual People, So They Invented Cricket To Give Them Some Idea Of Eternity.
Spiritual
Ideas
People
There Is No Satisfaction In Hanging A Man Who Does Not Object To It.
Funny
Witty
Men
He Who Bears The Brand Of Cain Shall Rule The Earth.
Cain
Earth
Bears
Some Persons, By Hating Vice Too Much, Come To Love Men Too Little. Hatred Is Self-punishment. Hatred Is The Cowards Revenge For Being Intimidated.
Revenge
Hate
Men
I Showed My Appreciation Of My Native Land In The Usual Irish Way: By Getting Out Of It As Soon As I Possibly Could.
Appreciation
Land
Usual
The Love Of Economy Is The Root Of All Virtue.
Roots
Virtue
Economy
A Drama Critic Is A Man Who Leaves No Turn Unstoned.
Art
Drama
Men
Love Is A Simple Thing And A Deep Thing: It Is An Act Of Life And Not An Illusion. Art Is An Illusion.
Life
Art
Simple
We Are More Gullible And Superstitious Today Than We Were In The Middle Ages, And An Example Of Modern Credulity Is The Widespread Belief That The Earth Is Round. The Average Man Can Advance Not A Single Reason For Thinking That The Earth Is Round. He Merely Swallows This Theory Because There Is Something About It That Appeals To The Twentieth Century Mentality.
Men
Thinking
Average
A Man Of Great Common Sense And Good Taste - Meaning Thereby A Man Without Originality Or Moral Courage.
Courage
Men
Common Sense
My Specialty Is Being Right When Other People Are Wrong.
People
Specialty
I Am Giving You Examples Of The Fact That This Creature Man, Who In His Own Selfish Affairs Is A Coward To The Backbone, Will Fight For An Idea Like A Hero. . . . I Tell You, Gentlemen, If You Can Shew A Man A Piece Of What He Now Calls God's Work To Do, And What He Will Later Call By Many New Names, You Can Make Him Entirely Reckless Of The Consequences To Himself Personally.
Selfish
Work
Hero
The Medical Profession (is) A Conspiracy To Hide Its Own Shortcomings. No Doubt The Same May Be Said Of All Professions. They Are All Conspiracies Against The Laity... (u)ntil There Is A Practicable Alternative To Blind Trust In The Doctor, The Truth About The Doctor Is So Terrible That We Dare Not Face It.
Doctors
Doubt
May
The Art Of Government Is The Organization Of Idolatry. The Bureaucracy Consists Of Functionaries; The Aristocracy, Of Idols; The Democracy, Of Idolaters. The Populace Cannot Understand The Bureaucracy: It Can Only Worship The National Idols.
Art
Government
Idols
A Succession Of Eye-openers Each Involving The Repudiation Of Some Previously Held Belief.
Education
Eye
Belief
The Pianoforte Is The Most Important Of All Musical Instruments; Its Invention Was To Music What The Invention Of Printing Was To Poetry.
Musical
Important
Printing
I Wish People Would Stop Talking About My Birthday.
Talking
People
Wish
The Trouble With The Media Is That It Seems Unable To Distinguish Between The End Of The World And A Bicycle Accident.
Truth
Knowledge
Media
It Is Not True That Men Can Be Divided Into Absolutely Honest Persons And Absolutely Dishonest Ones. Our Honesty Varies With The Strain Put On It.
Honesty
Men
Persons
Consciousness Of A Fact Is Not Knowing It: If It Were, The Fish Would Know More Of The Sea Than The Geographers And The Naturalists.
Lakes
Sea
Fishing
Let No One Suppose That The Words Doctor And Patient Can Disguise From The Parties The Fact That They Are Employer And Employee.
Party
Doctors
Facts
A Critic Is One Who Leaves No Turn Unstoned.
Inspirational
Criticism
Critics
Who Are Those We Love? Only Those We Do Not Hate.
Hate
Emotional
Feelings
Nothing Is Worth Doing Unless The Consequences May Be Serious.
May
Serious
Rebellious
A Government That Robs Peter To Pay Paul Can Always Depend On The Support Of Paul.
Inspirational
Funny
Witty
In A Battle All You Need To Make You Fight Is A Little Hot Blood And The Knowledge That It's More Dangerous To Lose Than To Win.
Fighting
Winning
Blood
Don't Order Any Black Things. Rejoice In His Memory; And Be Radiant: Leave Grief To The Children. Wear Violet And Purple. Be Patient With The Poor People Who Will Snivel: They Don't Know; And They Think They Will Live For Ever, Which Makes Death A Division Instead Of A Bond.
Memories
Children
Grief
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?
Marriage
Blessing
People
They Tell Me That So-and-so, Who Does Not Write Prefaces, Is No Charlatan. Well, I Am. I First Caught The Ear Of The British Public On A Cart In Hyde Park, To The Blaring Of Brass Bands,and This . . . Because . . . I Am A Natural-born Mountebank.
Writing
Brass Bands
Doe
Where Equality Is Undisputed, So Also Is Subordination.
Subordination
Undisputed
There Is In Man A Specific Lust For Cruelty Which Infects Even His Passion Of Pity And Makes It Savage.
Passion
Men
Lust
If You Do Not Write For Publication, There Is Little Point In Writing At All.
Writing
Littles
Publication
What Man Really Wishes To Do He Will Find A Means Of Doing.
Mean
Men
Wish
Spend All You Have Before You Die, And Do Not Outlive Yourself.
Dies
Every Dream Is A Prophecy: Every Jest Is An Earnest In The Womb Of Time.
Funny
Dream
Womb
I Often Quote Myself. It Adds Spice To My Conversation.
Book
Beer
Self
The Epithet Beautiful Is Used By Surgeons To Describe Operations Which Their Patients Describe As Ghastly, By Physicists To Describe Methods Of Measurement Which Leave Sentimentalists Cold, By Lawyers To Describe Cases Which Ruin All The Parties To Them, And By Lovers To Describe The Objects Of Their Infatuation, However Unattractive They May Appear To The Unaffected Spectators.
Beauty
Beautiful
Party
If You Demand My Authorities For This And That, I Must Reply That Only Those Who Have Never Hunted Up The Authorities As I Have Believe That There Is Any Authority Who Is Not Contradicted Flatly By Some Other Authority.
Believe
Demand
Authority
Women Upset Everything. When You Let Them Into Your Life, You Find That The Woman Is Driving At One Thing And You're Driving At Another.
Life
Women
Pygmalion
Grain By Grain, A Loaf. Stone Upon Stone, A Palace.
Progress
Stones
Palaces
The Law Is Equal Before All Of Us; But We Are Not All Equal Before The Law. Virtually There Is One Law For The Rich And Another For The Poor, One Law For The Cunning And Another For The Simple, One Law For The Forceful And Another For The Feeble, One Law For The Ignorant And Another For The Learned, One Law For The Brave And Another For The Timid, And Within Family Limits One Law For The Parent And No Law At All For The Child.
Children
Simple
Law
Like All Young Men, You Greatly Exaggerate The Difference Between One Young Woman And Another.
Men
Differences
Young
Revelations: A Curious Record Of The Visions Of A Drug Addict.
Drug
Vision
Records
Titles Distinguish The Mediocre, Embarrass The Superior, And Are Disgraced By The Inferior.
Titles
Mediocre
Inferiors
I Have Studied Him - The Wonderful Man - And In My Opinion Far From Being An Anti-christ He Must Be Called The Saviour Of Humanity.
Men
Humanity
Islam
The Person Who Is Ignorant Enough To Believe That His Nourishment Depends On Meat Is In A Horrible Dilemma.
Believe
Ignorant
Meat
If Any Religion Had A Chance Of Ruling Over England, Nay Europe Within The Next Hundred Years, It Could Be Islam.
Years
Europe
Islam
New Opinions Often Appear First As Jokes And Fancies, Then As Blasphemies And Treason, Then As Questions Open To Discussion, And Finally As Established Truths.
Truth
Political
Politics
The Great Secret...is Not Having Bad Manners Or Good Manners...but Having The Same Manner For All Human Souls.
Pygmalion
Soul
Good Man
I Am A Sort Of Collector Of Religions: And The Curious Thing Is That I Find I Can Believe In Them All.
Believe
Curiosity
Religion
The Fact Is That The Intrinsic Worth Of The Book, Play Or Whatever The Author Is Trying To Sell Is The Least, Last Factor In The The Whole Transaction.
Book
Play
Trying
Don't Ask Me For Promises Until I Know What I Am Promising.
Promise
Ask Me
Knows
The Notion That The Colonel Need Be A Better Man Than The Private Is As Confused As The Notion That The Keystone Need Be Stronger Than The Coping Stone.
Confused
Men
Stronger
People Expect Too Much Of One Year And Too Little Of Ten.
Years
People
Littles
You Are All Fundamentalists With A Top Dressing Of Science. That Is Why You Are The Stupidest Of Conservatives And Reactionists In Politics And The Most Bigoted Of Obstructionists In Science Itself. When It Comes To Getting A Move On You Are All Of The Same Opinion: Stop It, Flog It, Hang It, Dynamite It, Stamp It Out.
Moving
Prejudice
Opinion
An Idea That No One Believes Can Not Be Proved Too Often.
Believe
Ideas
Can Not
The Only Person Who Acts Sensibly Is My Tailor. He Takes My Measure Anew Every Time He Sees Me. Everyone Else Goes By Their Old Measurements.
Happiness
Beauty
Self Esteem
Justice Is Impartiality. Only Strangers Are Impartial.
Justice
Stranger
Impartiality
There Is Only One Religion, Though There Are A Hundred Versions Of It.
Life And Love
Fear
Religion
Let A Short Act Of Parliament Be Passed, Placing All Street Musicians Outside The Protection Of The Law, So That Any Citizen May Assail Them With Stones, Sticks, Knives, Pistols Or Bombs Without Incurring Any Penalties.
Funny
Music
Humor
We Are All Victims Of The Violence That Animals Suffer... Their Liberation Is Also Our Liberation.
Animal
Suffering
Violence
Greatness Is One Of The Sensations Of Littleness
Greatness
Sensations
Even A Vortex Is A Vortex In Something. You Can't Have A Whirlpool Without Water; And You Can't Have A Vortex Without Gas, Or Molecules Or Atoms Or Ions Or Electrons Or Something, Not Nothing.
Ions
Water
Molecules
Only Where There Is Pecuniary Equality Can The Distinction Of Merit Stand Out.
Merit
Standing Out
Distinction
If Parents Would Only Realize How They Bore Their Children.
Children
Kids
Parent
No Man Fully Capable Of His Own Language Ever Masters Another.
Men
Language
Masters
Geniuses Are Horrid, Intolerant, Easily Offended, Sleeplessly Self-conscious Men, Who Expect Their Wives To Be Angels With No Further Business In Life Than To Pet And Worship Their Husbands. Even At The Best They Are Not Comfortable Men To Live With; And A Perfect Husband Is One Who Is Perfectly Comfortable To Live With.
Husband
Angel
Men
Of All Human Struggles There Is None So Treacherous And Remorseless As The Struggle Between The Artist Man And The Mother Woman.
Mother
Struggle
Artist
Everything Happens To Everybody Sooner Or Later If There Is Time Enough.
Funny
Change
Time
Self-denial Is Not A Virtue; It Is Only The Effect Of Prudence On Rascality.
Self
Denial
Virtue
The Great Advantage Of A Hotel Is That It Is A Refuge From Home Life.
Life
Travel
Home
I Would Like To Take You Seriously, But To Do So Would Be An Affront To Your Intelligence.
Sarcastic
Sarcasm
Would Be
Though Justice Be Thy Plea, Consider This: That In The Course Of Justice None Of Us Should See Salvation. We Do Pray For Mercy, And That Same Prayer Doth Teach Us All To Render The Deeds Of Mercy.
Prayer
Mercy Of God
Venice
If In The Library Of Your House You Do Not Have The Works Of The Ancient Greek Writers, Then You Live In A House With No Light.
Light
House
Greek
Poverty Does Not Produce Unhappiness: It Produces Degradation.
Doe
Degradation
Poverty
[man] Progresses In All Things By Making A Fool Of Himself.
Men
Progress
Fool
The Goal Of An Artist Is To Create The Definitive Work That Cannot Be Surpassed.
Artist
Goal
Reformers Have The Idea That Change Can Be Achieved By Brute Sanity.
Ideas
Sanity
Economics
What A Heartbreaking Job It Is Trying To Combine Authors For Their Own Protection... The First Lesson I Learned Was That When You Take The Field For The Authors You Will Be Safer Without A Breastplate Than Without A Backplate.
Jobs
Trying
Heartbreaking
If The Announcer Can Produce The Impression That He Is A Gentleman, He May Pronounce As He Pleases.
Gentleman
May
Produce
People Get Tired Of Everything, And Of Nothing Sooner Than Of What They Most Like.
Tired
People
Boredom
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 Thirdclass Carriages, And One Soul Is As Good As Another.
Pygmalion
Heaven
Soul
A Family Is A Tyranny Ruled Over By It's Weakest Member.
Family
Members
Tyranny
If 'pygmalion' Is Not Good Enough For Your Friends With Its Own Verbal Music, Their Talent Must Be Altogether Extraordinary.
Pygmalion
Not Good Enough
Talent
Never Repeat Old Grievances.
Forgiveness
Grievance
Repeats
In A Living Society Every Day Is A Day Of Judgment; And Its Recognition As Such Is Not The End Of All Things But The Beginning Ofa Real Civilization.
Real
Civilization
Recognition
The First Prison I Ever Saw Had Inscribed On It Cease To Do Evil: Learn To Do Well; But As The Inscription Was On The Outside, The Prisoners Could Not Read It.
Evil
Saws
Firsts
Poverty Blights Whole Cities; Spreads Horrible Pestilences; Strikes Dead The Very Souls Of All Who Come Within Sight, Sound, Or Smell Of It
Sight
Cities
Smell
The Joy In Life Is To Be Used For A Purpose. I Want To Be Used Up When I Die.
Joy
Purpose
Want
I Become More Convinced That Beings From Other Planets Are Using The Earth As A Lunatic Asylum
Clever
Lunatic Asylums
Earth
No Age Or Condition Is Without Its Heroes . The Least Incapable General In A Nation Is Its Cæsar, The Least Imbecile Statesman Its Solon , The Least Confused Thinker Its Socrates , The Least Commonplace Poet Its Shakespeare .
Confused
Hero
Age
The First Condition Of Progress Is The Removal Of Censorship.
Progress
Firsts
Censorship
When A Heretic Wishes To Avoid Martyrdom He Speaks Of "orthodoxy, True And False" And Demonstrates That The True Is His Heresy.
Wish
True And False
Orthodoxy
This Is My Father. Try What You Can With Him! He Won't Listen To Me, Because He Remembers What A Fool I Was When I Was A Baby.
Baby
Father
Trying
To Me The Sole Hope Of Human Salvation Lies In Teaching.
Inspirational
Education
Teacher
Nietzche . . . He Was A Confirmed Life Force Worshipper. It Was He Who Raked Up The Superman, Who Is As Old As Prometheus; And The 20th Century Will Run After This Newest Of The Old Crazes When It Gets Tired Of The World, The Flesh, And Your Humble Servant.
Running
Tired
Humble
When The Master Has Come To Do Everything Through The Slave, The Slave Becomes His Master, Since He Cannot Live Without Him.
Slave
Masters
Start With The Belief That Your Life Can Indeed Be Changed, And That You Have The Power To Change It.
Change
Belief
Changed
My Method Is To Take The Utmost Trouble To Find The Right Thing To Say, And Then To Say It With The Utmost Levity.
Wise
Trouble
Public Speaking
But To Admire A Strong Person And To Live Under That Strong Person’s Thumb Are Two Different Things.
Strong
Two
Thumbs
I Choose Not To Make A Graveyard Of My Body For The Rotting Corpses Of Dead Animals.
Animal
Vegetarianism
Rotting
Marriage Is An Alliance Entered Into By A Man Who Can't Sleep With The Window Shut, And A Woman Who Can't Sleep With The Window Open.
Funny
Anniversary
Marriage
It Is Monstrous That Custom Should Force Us To Display Our Faces Ostentatiously, However Worn And Wrinkled And Mean They May Be, Whilst Carefully Concealing All Our Other Parts, However Shapely And Well Preserved.
Mean
May
Faces
Think What Cowards Men Would Be If They Had To Bear Children. Women Are Altogether A Superior Species.
Children
Women
Thinking
O Lord! I Don't Know Which Is The Worst Of The Country, The Walking Or The Sitting At Home With Nothing To Do.
Country
Home
Sitting
Except During The Nine Months Before He Draws His First Breath, No Man Manages His Affairs As Well As A Tree Does.
Trust
Sarcastic
Men
It Is Ridiculous To Say That Art Has Nothing To Do With Morality. What Is True Is That The Artist's Business Is Not That Of The Policeman.
Art
Ridiculous
Morality
The British Are Apt To Make Merits Of Their Stupidities, And To Represent Their Various Incapacities As Points Of Good Breeding.
Funny
Stupidity
Merit
Youth, Which Is Forgiven Everything, Forgives Itself Nothing: Age, Which Forgives Itself Everything, Is Forgiven Nothing.
Forgiveness
Time
Forgiving
Being Hurt By Someone You Truly Care About Leaves A Hole In You Heart That Only Love Can Fill.
Hurt
Heart
Confusion
The Poor Silly-clever Irishman Takes Off His Hat To God's Englishman.
Clever
Silly
Hats
All Progress Means War With Society.
War
Mean
Progress Of Society
I Object To Publishers: The One Service They Have Done Me Is To Teach Me To Do Without Them. They Combine Commercial Rascality With Artistic Touchiness And Pettishness, Without Being Either Good Business Men Or Fine Judges Of Literature.
Men
Judging
Done
Once The Divinity We Worshipped Made Itself Visible And Comprehensible, We Crucified It.
Divinity
Made
Visible
Baseball Has The Great Advantage Over Cricket Of Being Sooner Ended.
Baseball
Dignity
Advantage
What Is Wrong With The Prosaic Englishman Is What Is Wrong With The Prosaic Men Of All Countries: Stupidity.
Funny
Country
Men
Just As I Cannot Remember Any Time When I Could Not Read And Write, I Cannot Remember Any Time When I Did Not Exercise My Imagination In Daydreams About Women.
Writing
Exercise
Imagination
From A Very Early Age, I've Had To Interrupt My Education To Go To School.
Inspirational
Educational
School
Assassination On The Scaffold Is The Worst Form Of Assassination.
Form
Worst
Assassination
It Is A Monstrous Thing To Force A Child To Learn Latin Or Greek Or Mathematics On The Ground That They Are An Indispensable Gymnastic For The Mental Powers. It Would Be Monstrous Even If It Were True.
Children
Latin
Learning
Vivisection Is A Social Evil Because If It Advances Human Knowledge, It Does So At The Expense Of Human Character.
Character
Animal
Evil
You Can Be A Thorough-going Neo-darwinian Without Imagination, Metaphysics, Poetry, Conscience, Or Decency. For 'natural Selection' Has No Moral Significance: It Deals With That Part Of Evolution Which Has No Purpose, No Intelligence, And Might More Appropriately Be Called Accidental Selection, Or Better Still, Unnatural Selection, Since Nothing Is More Unnatural Than An Accident. If It Could Be Proved That The Whole Universe Had Been Produced By Such Selection, Only Fools And Rascals Could Bear To Live.
Imagination
Poetry
Intelligence
I Like A Bit Of Mongrel Myself, Whether It's A Man Or A Dog.
Dog
Men
Canine
It Is Assumed That The Woman Must Wait, Motionless, Until She Is Wooed. That Is How The Spider Waits For The Fly.
Wise
Wisdom
Women
But A Mother Is Like A Broomstick Or Like The Sun In The Heavens, It Does Not Matter Which As Far As One's Knowledge Of Her Is Concerned: The Broomstick Is There And The Sun Is There; And Whether The Child Is Beaten By It Or Warmed And Enlightened By It, It Accepts It As A Fact In Nature, And Does Not Conceive It As Having Had Youth, Passions, And Weaknesses, Or As Still Growing, Yearning, Suffering, And Learning.
Mother
Children
Passion
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
Moon
Men
Lunatic Asylums
An Englishman Thinks He Is Moral When He Is Only Uncomfortable.
Thinking
Morality
Uncomfortable
Whenever I See The Word Operation, Especially Trifling Operation, I At Once Write Off The Patient As Dead.
Writing
Patient
Operations
Life's No Brief Candle-it's A Splendid Torch!
Torches
Splendid
Candle
I Prefer The Man Who Calls His Nonsense A Mystery To Him Who Who Pretends It Is A Weighed, Measured, Analyzed Fact.
Men
Facts
Mystery
People Get Nothing Out Of Books But What They Bring To Them.
Book
People
All Roads End At The Grave, Which Is The Gate To Nothingness.
Ends
Graves
Gates
Every Step Of Progress Means A Duty Repudiated, And A Scripture Torn Up.
Mean
Progress
Scripture
Beware Of False Knowledge; It Is More Dangerous Than Ignorance.
Ignorance
Knowledge
Hunting
The Churches Must Learn Humility As Well As Teach It.
Humility
Church
Teach
Socialism Is The Same As Communism, Only Better English.
Socialism
Communism
People Are Always Blaming Their Circumstances For What They Are. I Don't Believe In Circumstances.
Stay Strong
Perseverance
Lonely
A Pornographic Novelist Is One Who Exploits The Sexual Instinct As A Prostitute Does. A Legitimate Sex Novel Elucidates It Or Brings Out Its Poetry, Tragedy, Or Comedy.
Sex
Tragedy
Novelists
There Is No Sincerer Love Than The Love Of Food.
Thanksgiving
Witty
Humorous
Some People Look At The World And Say 'why?' Some People Look At The World And Say 'why Not?'
Positive Thinking
People
Looks
In The Arts Of Peace Man Is A Bungler.
Art
Peace
Men
If You Must Hold Yourself Up To Your Children As An Object Lesson, Hold Yourself Up As A Warning And Not As An Example.
Children
Parent
Example
There Is Nothing On Earth More Exquisite Than A Bonny Book, With Well-placed Columns Of Rich Black Writing In Beautiful Borders, And Illuminated Pictures Cunningly Inset. But Nowadays, Instead Of Looking At Books, People Read Them. A Book Might As Well Be One Of Those Orders For Bacon And Bran.
Beautiful
Book
Writing
How You Ought Properly To Spell 'fish' In English: 'goti' .
Fishes
Ought
Spells
We Are Sick Of War, We Don't Want To Fight, And Yet We Gorge Ourselves Upon The Dead.
War
Fighting
Vegetarian Diet
You Sometimes Have To Answer A Woman According To Her Womanliness, Just As You Have To Answer A Fool According To His Folly.
Women
Answers
Fool
The Most Intolerable Pain Is Produced By Prolonging The Keenest Pleasure.
Pain
Pleasure
Prolonging
It's Usually Pointed Out That Women Are Not Fit For Political Power, And Ought Not To Be Trusted With A Vote Because They Are Politically Ignorant, Socially Prejudiced, Narrow-minded, And Selfish. True Enough, But Precisely The Same Is True Of Men!
Selfish
Men
Political
A Perpetual Holiday Is A Good Working Definition Of Hell.
Retirement
Work
Holiday
The Moment We Face It Frankly We Are Driven To The Conclusion That The Community Has A Right To Put A Price On The Right To Live In It ... If People Are Fit To Live, Let Them Live Under Decent Human Conditions. If They Are Not Fit To Live, Kill Them In A Decent Human Way. Is It Any Wonder That Some Of Us Are Driven To Prescribe The Lethal Chamber As The Solution For The Hard Cases Which Are At Present Made The Excuse For Dragging All The Other Cases Down To Their Level, And The Only Solution That Will Create A Sense Of Full Social Responsibility In Modern Populations?
Responsibility
Eugenics
People
We're Human Beings We Are - All Of Us - And That's What People Are Liable To Forget. Human Beings Don't Like Peace And Goodwill And Everybody Loving Everybody Else. However Much They May Think They Do, They Don't Really Because They're Not Made Like That. Human Beings Love Eating And Drinking And Loving And Hating. They Also Like Showing Off, Grabbing All They Can, Fighting For Their Rights And Bossing Anybody Who'll Give Them Half A Chance.
Hate
Drinking
Fighting
I Sing, Not Arms And The Hero, But The Philosophic Man: He Who Seeks In Contemplation To Discover The Inner Will Of The World, Ininvention To Discover The Means Of Fulfilling That Will, And In Action To Do That Will By The So-discovered Means.
Hero
Philosophical
Mean
It Is Clear That A Novel Cannot Be Too Bad To Be Worth Publishing. . . . It Certainly Is Possible For A Novel To Be Too Good To Be Worth Publishing.
Novel
Clear
Publishing
Remember Always That The Least Plain Sister Is The Family Beauty.
Remember
I Make A Fortune From Criticizing The Policy Of The Government, And Then Hand It Over To The Government In Taxes To Keep It Going.
Government
Hands
Political
This Planet Is Obviously Being Used As An Insane Asylum By Other Planets.
Insane
Asylums
Used
When An Apparent Miracle Happened.it Proved Divine Mission To The Credulous, And Proved A Contract With The Devil To The Skeptical.
Miracle
Devil
Divine
A Man Of My Spiritual Intensity Does Not Eat Corpses.
Spiritual
Food
Men
I Enjoy Convalescence. It Is The Part That Makes The Illness Worth While.
Get Well Soon
Health
Sickness
Faith In Reason As A Prime Motor Is No Longer The Criterion Of The Sound Mind, Any More Than Faith In The Bible Is The Criterion Of Righteous Intention.
Bible
Faith
Mind
Just As The Liar 's Punishment Is, Not In The Least That He Is Not Believed , But That He Cannot Believe Any One Else; So A Guilty Society Can More Easily Be Persuaded That Any Apparently Innocent Act Is Guilty Than That Any Apparently Guilty Act Is Innocent.
Liars
Believe
Punishment
What I Say Today Everybody Will Say Tomorrow, Though They Will Not Remember Who Put It Into Their Heads. Indeed They Will Be Right For I Never Remember Who Puts Things Into My Head : It Is The Zeitgeist.
Today
Tomorrow
Remember
The Plain Working Truth Is That It Is Not Only Good For People To Be Shocked Occasionally, But Absolutely Necessary To The Progress Of Society That They Should Be Shocked Pretty Often.
Progress Of Society
People
Truth Is
What Is The Matter With Universities Is That The Students Are School Children, Whereas It Is Of The Very Essence Of University Education That They Should Be Adults.
Children
School
Essence
I Myself Have Been Particularly Careful Never To Say A Civil Word To The United States. I Have Scoffed At Their Inhabitants As A Nation Of Villagers. I Have Defined The 100 % American As 99 % An Idiot. And They Adore Me.
Civilization
United States
Idiot
Those Who Admire Modern Civilization Usually Identify It With The Steam Engine And The Electric Telegraph.
Civilization
Modern
Steam Engines
My Only Policy Is To Profess Evil And Do Good.
Evil
Policy
It Has Taken Me Nearly Twenty Years Of Studied Self-restraint, Aided By The Natural Decay Of My Faculties, To Make Myself Dull Enough To Be Accepted As A Serious Person By The British Public; And I Am Not Sure That I Am Not Still Regarded As A Suspicious Character In Some Quarters.
Taken
Character
Self
Give A Man Health And A Course To Steer, And He'll Never Stop To Trouble About Whether He's Happy Or Not.
Happiness
Happy
Health
He Who Can, Does. He Who Cannot, Teaches.
Education
Witty
Teacher
Education Can And Should Do Much Influence Social, Moral And Intellectual Discovery By Stimulating Critical Attitudes Of Thought In The Young
Attitude
School
Discovery
Civilized Society Is One Huge Bourgeoisie: No Nobleman Dares Now Shock His Greengrocer.
Civilization
Bourgeoisie
Noblemen
The Haughty American Nation ... Makes The Negro Clean Its Boots And Then Proves The Moral And Physical Inferiority Of The Negro By The Fact That He Is A Bootblack.
Boots
Inferiority
Facts
I Never Accepted A Knighthood Because To Me, Is Honour Enough?
Knighthood
Enough
Accepted
One Man That Has A Mind And Knows It Can Always Beat Ten Men Who Haven't And Don't.
Inspirational
Wise
Men
Clever And Attractive Women Do Not Want To Vote; They Are Willing To Let Men Govern As Long As They Govern Men.
Funny
Witty
Clever
If All The Economists Were Laid End To End, They'd Never Reach A Conclusion.
Money
Business
Saving
Science Is Always Simple And Always Profound. It Is Only The Half-truths That Are Dangerous.
Science
Simple
Profound
Man Is The Only Animal Of Which I Am Thoroughly And Cravenly Afraid...there Is No Harm In A Well-fed Lion. It Has No Ideals, No Sect, No Party.
Peace
War
Party
Man's Inhumanity To Man Is Only Surpassed By His Cruelty To Animals
Animal
Men
Inhumanity To Man
Gardening Is The Only Unquestionably Useful Job.
Jobs
Garden
Gardening
Alcohol Is A Very Necessary Article. It Enables Parliament To Do Things At Eleven At Night That No Sane Person Would Do At Eleven In The Morning.
Morning
Drinking
Food
We Learn From Experience That Men Never Learn Anything From Experience.
Funny
Witty
Learning
I'm An Atheist And I Thank God For It.
God
Atheist
Humor
There Is Nothing More Dangerous Than The Conscience Of A Bigot.
Dangerous
Dangerous Things
Bigots
As An Old Soldier, I Admit The Cowardice: It's As Universal As Seasickness, And Matters Just As Little.
Justice
Soldier
Littles
I Have Always Held The Religion Of Muhammad In High Estimation Because Of Its Wonderful Vitality. It Is The Only Religion Which Appears To Me To Possess That Assimilating Capability To The Changing Phase Of Existence Which Can Make Itself Appeal To Every Age... I Have Studied Him - The Wonderful Man, And In My Opinion Far From Being An Anti-christ He Must Be Called The Saviour Of Humanity.
Islamic
Men
Humanity
Trending Author
Paul Fussell
Woody Guthrie
Laura Riding
Florence King
John Edward
Kevin Smith
Category
Information