Quotes by George Bernard Shaw

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I don't hate people who have succeeded in life; on the contrary. But I'm afraid of success. To be successful is to have nothing more to do in life, like the spider, who is killed by the female as soon as he has succeeded in conquering her.

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I like the state of continuous becoming, to have a goal in front and not behind.

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What flatters someone in a special way is that you consider them worthy of being flattered.

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There is always something comic in the contrast between the way transfigured people appear in the eyes of those who love them, and the way they are seen by those who have no such feelings; or, in the same vein, and as they appear in their own eyes.

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The liar's punishment is not that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone.

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What we call success is, in fact, the reward of every man endowed with talent.

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The secret is not in good or bad behavior, but in the ability to treat everyone the same. That is, to act as if you were in heaven where there are no third-class passengers and all immortal souls are equal to each other.

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It happens like this quite often: the main weight is not given to the main role.

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Those who have learned the most know the least.

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I serve the public, but I don't bow to it.

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Only laughter punishes evil with gentleness and strengthens good relationships without drooling.

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When reading a biography, remember that the truth is not meant for publication.

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A novel may be too stupid to be published. Sometimes, however, a novel can be too good to be published.

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Being honest isn't dangerous if you're also stupid.

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The art of ruling consists in the organization of idolatry.

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People who can be happy don't have money, and people who have money can't be happy.

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Our century is the century of upstarts.

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People only give us interesting information when we contradict them.

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Common sense and diligence make up for lack of talent, while the most brilliant of geniuses can destroy their lives over a stupidity.

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A healthy nation does not regard its nationality as a healthy man does his backbone. And if you injure its national dignity, the nation will think of nothing else but its restoration. She will listen to no reformer, no philosopher, no preacher, until the demands of the Nationalists are met. The nation will not concern itself with anything else, however urgent, except reunification and liberation.

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Ranks and titles are designed for those whose merits to the country are indisputable, but unknown to the population of this country.

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Women guess on the spot who we are ready to cheat on them with. Sometimes, before such a thing crosses our minds.

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Women turn everything upside down. Try to let a woman into your life, and you will immediately see that she needs one, and you need something completely different.

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The woman wants to live her own life, and the man, his; and each tries to draw the other from the right path. One pulls to the north, and another to the south; and as a result both go east, though neither likes the east wind.

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There are great men among the small and great men among the great men.

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If you have an apple and I have an apple, and we exchange apples between us, then you and I will each have an apple. And if you have an idea and I have an idea, and we exchange ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

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If ever, in your pursuit of happiness, you find it, you will be like an old woman looking for her glasses, when you discover that happiness has always been right under your nose.

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Thinking women are the ones no one thinks about.

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My way of joking is telling the truth. There is nothing funnier in the world.

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Science is always unfair. She will never answer a question without asking ten instead.

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Who among us understands what he is doing? If we understood, we would probably never do anything.

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A doctor's reputation depends on the number of famous personalities he has sent to the other world.

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Reputation is a mask that a man has to wear just like he wears his pants and jacket.

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Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted this burden from one shoulder to another.

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A rational man adapts to the world; the irrational one tries to adapt the world to him. That is why progress always depends on the irrational.

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Nature does not tolerate waste: when people do not know the truth, they fill in the gaps with assumptions.

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A woman's need is to get married as soon as possible, and a man's need is not to marry while he is still strong.

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Strive to get what you want or you will have to want what you got.

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Besides the things that anyone can learn—dressing well and speaking properly, and all that stuff—a lady is distinguished from a flower girl not by the way she carries herself, but by the way she others deal with it.

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The science of pronunciation. This is my profession and at the same time my favorite occupation. Happy is the one whose favorite occupation can procure a means of living!

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To teach a person to do something is possible only when the personality of the pedagogue is holy.

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Nations are like bees - they can only be pitied at the cost of their own lives.

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You can't become an expert in a limited field without becoming, in the general sense, an imbecile.

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Hate is the coward's revenge for the fear he has caused.

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There is no such woman who has managed to say "goodbye" in less than thirty words.

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You only have time to think about the future when you have no future in front of you.

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A great work of art is a painful victory of brilliant spirit over brilliant imagination.

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As a result of democratic elections, out of a large number of the uninformed, a small number of the bribed are obtained.

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The bureaucracy consists of hired officials, the aristocracy, of idols, and the democracy, of idolaters.

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Rich people who lack conviction are more dangerous in modern society than poor women who lack morality.

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Because of maternal instinct, the woman would rather own a single share in a hundred of a first-rate man than the whole stock of a second-rate one.

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Take care of a penny, and the pounds will take care of themselves - this proverb is as valid for the formation of personality as it is for the accumulation of capital.

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The Englishman thinks of morality only when he is not feeling well.

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The English are a nation of amateurs, and not of professionals; their generals are just like their writers - amateurs. This is why we always won the wars and created the greatest literature in the world.

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A thief is not the one who steals, but the one who was caught.

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All autobiographies are fake. No person can be so bad as to tell the truth about his life by training his family, friends and colleagues in this way, as the truth demands. And no one can be so virtuous as to tell his successors the truth in a document which he keeps hidden until there is no one left to contradict him.

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Debt is like a trap: it's easy to fall into it, but very difficult to get out.

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Ten pounds is a lot of money; he who has them already begins to live prudently, and that is the end of happiness.

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Democracy cannot be placed above the level of the human material of which its constituents are formed.

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Democracy is the guarantee that we are governed as we deserve.

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The newspaper is a printed object that does not see the difference between falling off a bicycle and the catastrophe of civilization.

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Money is more important than anything in the world. They are both a living mirror that gives us hope, the only healthy place of our social consciousness. and evident of health, strength, honor, bounty, and beauty, as well as sickness, weakness, dishonesty, baseness, and their servitude reflects their defects.

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Common respect for money is the only thing in our civilization.

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All women, without exception, believe that they have a sense of humor because they like to laugh at their girlfriend; but only one in a thousand has sense enough to laugh at herself.

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Never miss your chance - you don't come across it every day.

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But what is life but a chain of inspired absurdities?

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It is democracy when the power is no longer designated by the corrupt and ignorant, but by an ignorant majority.

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Shame is, of course, necessary, as it is required by decency. And that is what is expected of a woman. We women have to act out a lot of emotions that we don't really feel... but I can't stand it when I have to say something that I clearly think differently. What is the point of this behavior? If the world treats women in a certain way, there is no point in pretending to be the opposite. No, I was never ashamed. Not one bit. Moreover, I have every right to be proud of everything I've achieved... of course, I can't trumpet it with these words. Who knows what people would say...

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Assassination is an extreme form of censorship.

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A smart person adapts to the world, a fool stubbornly tries to bend the world to himself. Hence, progress depends on fools.

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Silence is the most perfect expression of contempt.

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Every great truth began as blasphemy.

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He who has a toothache thinks that he who does not have a toothache is happy.

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Oh that we were good enough for Love! Love is more important than anything else; love is worth more than anything. Without love, the world would be just a nightmare of dirty horrors.

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All the love in the world wants to express itself in words, but it doesn't have the courage, it's afraid, it's afraid. This is the tragedy of the world.

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The secret of misery is to have time to think about whether you are happy or not.

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I never resist temptation because I have found that things that are not good for me do not tempt me.

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Loneliness is beautiful, but not when you are alone.

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The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been created.

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An award cannot be refused. Live without getting it.

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When a man kills a tiger, it is called sport, but when a tiger wants to kill a man, it is called cruelty.

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I give you the sun, the stars to play with. For a moment I will give you eternity, the power of the mountains, just clap your hands.

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Always do what you fear.

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Every profession is a conspiracy against the laity.

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The truth is what a man must say even if he is stoned for it.

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There is no greater happiness than being able to live off a bug.

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Beware of the man whose God is in heaven!

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Man must face evil without delusion, otherwise he does not know what reality is and how to overcome it.

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Inside, we are still savages who cannot elegantly wear the slim uniform of civilization.

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We call things miracles (...) that inspire faith.

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If you wait too long to decide what you want to do with your life, you suddenly wake up to the fact that it's over.

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My only sensible acquaintance is my tailor; he measures me again every time we meet. The others rely on their old knowledge and expect me to live up to them.

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I can't change my nature, and I don't want to change my manners.

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What else is life but a bunch of exciting nonsense? Let's not miss a single one!

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The man thinks he knows everything, and the woman thinks she knows better.

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Keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you can look at the world.

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Youth is wonderful! What a crime to waste on children!

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This is the true joy of life: to wear ourselves out for a purpose whose greatness we ourselves have recognized, and to grind ourselves to the ground before we are thrown into the dustbin: to be a force of nature, and not a selfish, feverish, miserable little man, wracked with sufferings and pains, and complaining , because the world is not dedicated to making him happy.

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Money is not everything, but a lot of money is something.

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We know from experience that men never learn anything from experience.

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My reputation grows with every failure.

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Life is a fire that always dies down, but is rekindled when a child is born.

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People always blame circumstances for what they achieve in life. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who thrive in this world are the ones who get up in the morning and look for the circumstances they need. If they don't find one, they create them.

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There is no truer love than the love of food.

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Being honest is dangerous. If only I'm not stupid about it.

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You see something and ask: "why?", but I dream of things that never happened and I say: "why not?".

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The members of the union called marriage are: a man who cannot sleep with the window closed, and a woman who can only sleep with the window closed.

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If you have an apple and I have an apple, and we exchange them, we both end up with an apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea, and we trade them, we'll both have two ideas.

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Democracy is a tool to ensure that we are not governed more than we deserve.

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The right to knowledge is like the right to life.

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Freedom means responsibility, which is why most people fear it.

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There are two tragedies in life. One is when our long-cherished desire is not fulfilled. The other is if it is fulfilled.

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From a social point of view, starting a family is perhaps the greatest service that anyone can do for the good of their country and the whole of humanity.

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Make sure you get what you love, or you'll be forced to love what you get.

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A reasonable person adapts to his environment. An unreasonable person adapts his environment to himself. Unreasonable people move the world forward.

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Indifference is the essence of inhumanity.

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A woman remembers the first kiss even when the man has already forgotten the last.

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It's so hard to know what to do when you really want to do what's right.

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I've never climbed a donkey ladder of any kind. I owe my success to gravity alone.

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Patriotism is your belief that this country is different from all others because you were born here.

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You can think about your future when you no longer have a future.

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He who is angry punishes himself for the fault of others.

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Hate is cowardice's revenge for intimidation.

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Actually, the difference is not in how people behave, but in how people are treated.

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Nothing can be kept secret like what everyone knows.

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I can confidently say that after studying the Hungarian language for years, I became convinced that if Hungarian had been my mother tongue, my life's work would have been much more valuable. Simply because in this strange, ancient language swelling with ancient power, it is possible to describe the tiny differences, the secret vibrations of emotions many times more precisely.

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A life made up of mistakes is not only more respectable, but also more useful than a life of inaction.

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I don't know if people live on the moon, but if they do, they use Earth as a mental institution.

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Don't be mad about getting old, some people don't make it either.

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Love is a gross magnification of the difference between one person and all others.

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The punishment for a liar is not that they don't believe him, but that he can't believe anyone either.

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We don't forget to play because we get old, we get old because we forget to play.