Authors / George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw quotes

1856–1950 · Irish playwright and critic

Shaw wrote more than sixty plays and used their prefaces to argue with everyone about everything. Alongside Wilde he tops the Oxford list of most-quoted humorists, and many of his best lines come from the "Maxims for Revolutionists" appended to Man and Superman.

6 real · 2 not theirs

Really theirs

6 quotes traced to George Bernard Shaw's own work or a reliable witness.

Sourced
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.
Source: Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1903)
Sourced
He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
Source: Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1903)
Sourced
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
Source: Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1903)
Sourced
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
Source: Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1903)
Sourced
There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.
Source: Man and Superman, Act IV (1903)
Sourced
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
Source: Everybody's Political What's What? (1944)

Not theirs

2 famous lines credited to George Bernard Shaw that are misquoted, unsourced or belong to someone else.

Not theirs
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Actually: No trace in Shaw's plays, prefaces or letters; it was attached to his name long after his death.

No source found
Youth is wasted on the young.

The trail: Constantly credited to Shaw, but no one has found it in his work.