The Wit and Wisdom of George Bernard Shaw Quotes: A Literary Giant's Life and Legacy

50 George Bernard Shaw Quotes that encompass his wit, wisdom, and social commentary:

1. "Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself."

2. "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."

3. "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

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

5. "You see things and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were, and I say, 'Why not?'"

6. "Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."

7. "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

8. "A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic."

9. "The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them."

10. "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children."

11. "The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it."

12. "You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing."

13. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

14. "There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."

15. "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."

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

17. "The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty."

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

19. "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."

20. "You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul."

21. "A man of great common sense and good taste—meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage."

22. "The first love is the only one that is unique."

23. "The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it."

24. "He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."

25. "In heaven, an angel is nobody in particular."

26. "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."

27. "You can't have everything. Where would you put it?"

28. "When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth."

29. "The secret to success is to offend the greatest number of people."

30. "A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education."

31. "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."

32. "The more I see of the representatives of the people, the more I admire my dogs."

33. "I can't talk to a man who bears an undeserved animosity toward ferrets."

34. "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity."

35. "A little learning is a dangerous thing, but we must take that risk because a little is as much as our biggest heads can hold."

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

37. "If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance."

38. "We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

39. "Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world."

40. "Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."

41. "No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious."

42. "The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there."

43. "A man who has no office to go to—I don't care who he is—is a trial of which you can have no conception."

44. "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same."

45. "The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."

46. "People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."

47. "Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn."

48. "All great truths begin as blasphemies."

49. "The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them."

50. "My reputation grows with every failure."

These George Bernard Shaw quotes encompass a wide range of topics and showcase his sharp wit and insightful observations.