George Bernard Shaw, 1856 - 1950
New York Times photo, circa 1915
Born: 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland
Died: 2 November 1950, Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Shaw's father, George Carr Shaw, was an unsuccessful grain merchant and habitual drunkard. His mother, Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw, was a professional singer. Shaw and his two sisters were largely raised by servants. Shaw attended Wesleyan Connexional School briefly, then a private school near Dalkey, transferred to Dublin's Central Model School, and ended his formal education at Dublin English Scientific and Commercial Day School when he was fifteen. He hated all of them. When his mother and sisters moved to London, Shaw clerked in an estate office for several years, then joined his mother and sister at London. He got a pound a week, some from an allowance but mostly by ghostwriting a music column for Vandeleur Lee, his mothers voice coach. He spent the bulk of his time in public libraries and the British Museum reading room, studying and writing novels that went unpublished until much later, but in 1885 he began writing music and drama criticism. He became a socialist and was a charter member of the Fabian Society in 1884. It was there that he met Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a wealthy widow. They wed in 1898 and moved to the home now called Shaw's Corner, where both lived the rest of their lives. His music criticism was extensive and enjoyable to read, although his admiration of Richard Wagner baffles the Quotemaster. He wrote more than fifty plays, several of which became motion pictures once sound was available, and he continued to write them until just a year before his death. His plays each included lengthy prefaces, which were excellent sources of quotes. He also wrote several essays and thousands of letters.
Biography from Wikipedia and Authors' Calendar
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
George Bernard Shaw quotes:
Quotes found : 280 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 19) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
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- A broken heart is a very pleasant complaint for a man in London if he has a comfortable income. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A day's work is a day's work, neither more nor less, and the man who does it needs a day's sustenance, a night's repose and due leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A doctor's reputation is made by the number of eminent men who die under his care. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A drama critic is a man who leaves no turn unstoned. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - Everybody's Political What's What (1944) - A happy family is but an earlier heaven. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A healthy nation is as unconscious of its nationality as a healthy man of his bones. But if you break a nation's nationality it will think of nothing else but getting it set again. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A learned man is an idler who kills time with study. Beware of his false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - 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. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A man learns to skate by staggering about and making a fool of himself; indeed, he progresses in all things by making a fool of himself. permalink
George Bernard Shaw - A man of great common sense and good taste; meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage. permalink
George Bernard Shaw
Quotes found : 280 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 19) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
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