It was from Handel that I learned that style consists in force of assertion. If you can say a thing with one stroke unanswerably, you have style; if not, you are at best a marchand de plasir, a decorative litterateur, or a musical confectioner, or a painter of fans with cupids and cocottes. Handel has this power. When he sets the words "Fixed in his everlasting seat," the atheist is struck dumb; God is there, fixed in his everlasting seat by Handel, even if you live in an Avenue Paul Bert and despise such superstitions. You may despise what you like, but you cannot contradict Handel.
¶ "Causerie on Handel in England," Ainslee's Magazine (May 1913)
Originally a music society lecture given in France. Longer discussion.
Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity; and fashion will drive them to acquire any custom.
¶ "Killing for Sport," Nash’s Magazine (Sep 1914)
ANDERSON: My dear: in this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it. There's a danger that the house will catch fire in the night; but we shan't sleep any the less soundly for that.
¶ The Devil's Disciple, Act II (1897)
The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
¶ Androcles and the Lion, Preface
We are members one of another; so that you cannot injure or help your neighbor without injuring or helping yourself.
¶ Androcles and the Lion, Preface ("The Alternative to Barabbas") (1912)
When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.
¶ Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch, Part V "As Far as Thought Can Reach" [The He-Ancient] (1921)
A man differs from a microbe only in being further on the path.
¶ Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch, ch. 2 (1921)
THE SERPENT: You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"
¶ Back to Methuselah, 1.1 (1921)
The Serpent speaking to Eve.
President John Kennedy quoted this addressing the Irish Parliament, Dublin (28 Jun. 1963). Sen. Robert Kennedy modified it for his campaign, as used by Sen. Edward Kennedy in his eulogy (1968): "Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not.”
Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage -- it can be delightful.
¶ Back to Methuselah, Part V (1921)
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
¶ Caesar and Cleopatra, Act III [Apollodorus] (1898)
He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
¶ Caesar and Cleopatra, Act II [Caesar] (1908)
It is no use my liking or disliking; I do what must be done, and have no time to attend myself. That is not happiness, but it is greatness.
¶ Caesar and Cleopatra, Act IV [Cleopatra] (1898)
Full text.
An variation on this is frequently quoted, but I haven't been able to find a source: "Forget about likes and dislikes. They are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness."
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
¶ Everybody’s Political What’s What?, ch. 30 (1944)
FANNY: It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date.
¶ Fanny's First Play (1911)
When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal and exhausting condition until death do them part.
¶ Getting Married, Preface (1908)
I did not let the fear of death govern my life, and my reward was, I had my life. You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life; and your reward will be that you will eat, but you will not live.
¶ Heartbreak House, Act 2 [Capt. Shotover] (1919)
Lack of money is the root of all evil.
¶ Man and Superman (1903)
This is the true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
¶ Man and Superman, "Epistle Dedicatory" (1903)
The man with toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man,
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Beauty and Happiness, Art and Riches" (1903)
When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Crime and Punishment" (1903)
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Democracy" (1903)
He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Education" (1903)
Every fool believes what his teachers tell him, and calls his credulity science or morality as confidently as his father called it divine revelation.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Education" (1903)
The savage bows down to idols of wood and stone: the civilized man to idols of flesh and blood.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Idolatry" (1903)
If you begin by sacrificing yourself to those you love, you will end by hating those to whom you have sacrificed yourself.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "Self-Sacrifice" (1903)
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
¶ Man and Superman, "Maxims for Revolutionists," "The Golden Rule" (1903)
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
¶ Man and Superman, "The Revolutionist's Handbook," "Liberty and Equality" (1903)
The man who listens to Reason is lost: Reason enslaves all whose minds are not strong enough to master her.
¶ Man and Superman, "The Revolutionist's Handbook," "Reason" (1903)
What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which habitually acts.
¶ Man and Superman, "The Revolutionist's Handbook," "Religion" (1903)
The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.
¶ Man and Superman, Act I [Tanner] (1903)
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.
¶ Mrs. Warren s Profession, Act III (1893)
All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorships.
¶ Mrs. Warren's Profession, Preface (1893)
People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.
¶ Parents and Children, "Family Affection" (1914)
People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.
¶ Parents and Children, "Family Affection" (1914)
The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
¶ Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)
There is nothing for us but to make it a point of honor to privilege heresy to the last bearable degree on the simple ground that all evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.
¶ Saint Joan, Preface (1923)
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
¶ The Doctor's Dilemma, Act V (1911)
Capitalism justified itself and was adopted as an economic principle on the express ground that it provides selfish motives for doing good, and that human beings will do nothing except for selfish motives.
¶ The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism Fascism, ch. 66 (1928)
I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind.
¶ Letter to Ellen Terry (28 Aug 1896)
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as I live it is my privilege -- my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I've got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
¶ Speech, Municipal Technical College and School of Art, Brighton (1907)
Sometimes quoted preceded by: "This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose, recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world wll not devote itself to making you happy." This text also appears (with different following verbiage) in the "Epistle Dedicatory" in Man and Superman.
Am reserving two tickets for you for my premiere. Come and bring a friend -- if you have one.
¶ To Winston Churchill (Attributed)
Churchill's reply: Impossible to be present for the first performance. Will attend second -- if there is one.
