Quintessence Of Ibsenism (1891; 1913): wikilinks
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[[File:George Bernard Shaw 1925.jpg|thumb|right|I hear you say "Why?" Always "Why?" You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"]]
+
[[File:George Bernard Shaw 1925.jpg|thumb|right|I hear you say "Why?" Always "Why?" You see things; and you say "Why?" But I
[[
dream
]]
things that never were; and I say "Why not?"]]
'''[[w:George Bernard Shaw|George Bernard Shaw]]''' ([[26 July]] [[1856]] – [[2 November]] [[1950]]) was an Irish [[w:playwright|playwright]], who received the [[w:Nobel Prize for Literature|Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1925.
'''[[w:George Bernard Shaw|George Bernard Shaw]]''' ([[26 July]] [[1856]] – [[2 November]] [[1950]]) was an Irish [[w:playwright|playwright]], who received the [[w:Nobel Prize for Literature|Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1925.
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[[File:G Bernard Shaw 2.jpg|thumb|right|My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity.]]
+
[[File:G Bernard Shaw 2.jpg|thumb|right|My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the
[[
right
]]
thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost
[[
levity
]]
.]]
:See also:
:See also:
::'''''[[Man and Superman]]''''' (1903)
::'''''[[Man and Superman]]''''' (1903)
== Quotes ==
== Quotes ==
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[[File:Alvin Langdon Coburn-Shaw.jpg|thumb|right|My specialty is being right when other people are wrong.]]
+
[[File:Alvin Langdon Coburn-Shaw.jpg|thumb|right|My specialty is being
[[
right
]]
when other
[[
people
]]
are
[[
wrong
]]
.]]
−
[[File:George bernard shaw.jpg|thumb|right|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.]]
+
[[File:George bernard shaw.jpg|thumb|right|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.]]
−
[[File:George Bernard Shaw.jpg|thumb|right|The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.]]
+
[[File:George Bernard Shaw.jpg|thumb|right|The worst
[[
sin
]]
towards our fellow creatures is not to
[[
hate
]]
them, but to be
[[
indifferent
]]
to them: that's the
[[
essence
]]
of inhumanity.]]
−
[[File:Joan_of_arc_burning_at_stake.jpg|thumb|right|Must then a [[
w:Christ|
Christ]] perish in torment in every age to save those that have no imagination?]]
+
[[File:Joan_of_arc_burning_at_stake.jpg|thumb|right|Must then a [[Christ]] perish in torment in every age to
[[
save
]]
those that have no
[[
imagination
]]
?]]
−
[[File:George Bernard Shaw 1934-12-06.jpg|thumb|right|One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't.]]
+
[[File:George Bernard Shaw 1934-12-06.jpg|thumb|right|One man that has a
[[
mind
]]
and
[[
knows
]]
it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't.]]
−
[[File:George Bernard Shaw Statue.jpg|thumb|right|The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.]]
+
[[File:George Bernard Shaw Statue.jpg|thumb|right|The single biggest
[[
problem
]]
in
[[
communication
]]
is the illusion that it has taken place.]]
−
* [[Patriotism]] is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it…
+
* [[Patriotism]] is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular
[[
country
]]
is the best in the world because you were
[[
born
]]
in it…
** ''The World'' (15 November 1893).
** ''The World'' (15 November 1893).
−
* '''Pasteboard pies and paper flowers are being banished from the stage by the growth of that power of accurate observation which is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it…'''
+
* '''Pasteboard pies and paper flowers are being banished from the stage by the
[[
growth
]]
of that power of accurate observation which is commonly called
[[
cynicism
]]
by those who have not got it…'''
** ''The World'' (18 July 1894), ''Music in London 1890-1894 being criticisms contributed week by week to The World'' (New York: Vienna House, 1973).
** ''The World'' (18 July 1894), ''Music in London 1890-1894 being criticisms contributed week by week to The World'' (New York: Vienna House, 1973).
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** "The Living Pictures", ''The Saturday Review'', LXXIX (April 6, 1895), 443, reprinted in ''Our Theatres in the Nineties'' (1932). Vol. 1. London: Constable & Co. 79-86.
** "The Living Pictures", ''The Saturday Review'', LXXIX (April 6, 1895), 443, reprinted in ''Our Theatres in the Nineties'' (1932). Vol. 1. London: Constable & Co. 79-86.
−
* '''My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity.'''
+
* '''My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the
[[
right
]]
thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost
[[
levity
]]
.'''
** ''Answers to Nine Questions'' (September 1896), answers to nine questions submitted by Clarence Rook, who had interviewed him in 1895.
** ''Answers to Nine Questions'' (September 1896), answers to nine questions submitted by Clarence Rook, who had interviewed him in 1895.
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=== ''[[w:Quintessence of Ibsenism|Quintessence Of Ibsenism]]'' (1891; 1913) ===
=== ''[[w:Quintessence of Ibsenism|Quintessence Of Ibsenism]]'' (1891; 1913) ===
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[[File:George_Bernard_Shaw_-_1889.jpg|thumb|right|The liar's punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe any one else.]]
+
[[File:George_Bernard_Shaw_-_1889.jpg|thumb|right|The
[[
liar
]]
's
[[
punishment
]]
is, not in the least that he is not
[[
believed
]]
, but that he cannot believe any one else.]]
:<small>A review of the works and ideas of [[Henrik Ibsen]]</small>
:<small>A review of the works and ideas of [[Henrik Ibsen]]</small>
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* '''I have never admitted the right of an elderly author to alter the work of a young author, even when the young author happens to be his former self.''' In the case of a work which is a mere exhibition of skill in conventional art, there may be some excuse for the delusion that the longer the artist works on it the nearer he will bring it to perfection. Yet even the victims of this delusion must see that there is an age limit to the process, and that though a man of forty-five may improve the workmanship of a man of thirty-five, it does not follow that a man of fifty-five can do the same. <br> '''When we come to creative art, to the living word of a man delivering a message to his own time, it is clear that any attempt to alter this later on is simply fraud and forgery.''' As I read the old ''Quintessence of Ibsenism'' I may find things that I see now at a different angle, or correlate with so many things then unnoted by me that they take on a different aspect. But though this may be a reason for writing another book, it is not a reason for altering an existing one.
+
* '''I have never admitted the right of an elderly author to alter the work of a young author, even when the young author happens to be his former
[[
self
]]
.''' In the case of a work which is a mere exhibition of skill in conventional art, there may be some excuse for the delusion that the longer the artist works on it the nearer he will bring it to perfection. Yet even the victims of this delusion must see that there is an age limit to the process, and that though a man of forty-five may improve the workmanship of a man of thirty-five, it does not follow that a man of fifty-five can do the same. <br> '''When we come to creative art, to the living word of a man delivering a message to his own time, it is clear that any attempt to alter this later on is simply fraud and forgery.''' As I read the old ''Quintessence of Ibsenism'' I may find things that I see now at a different angle, or correlate with so many things then unnoted by me that they take on a different aspect. But though this may be a reason for writing another book, it is not a reason for altering an existing one.
** Preface to the 1913 edition
** Preface to the 1913 edition
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* '''Just as the liar's punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe any one else; so a guilty society can more easily be persuaded that any apparently innocent act is guilty than that any apparently guilty act is innocent.'''
+
* '''Just as the
[[
liar
]]
's
[[
punishment
]]
is, not in the least that he is not
[[
believed
]]
, but that he cannot believe any one else; so a
[[
guilty
]]
[[
society
]]
can more easily be persuaded that any apparently
[[
innocent
]]
act is guilty than that any apparently guilty act is innocent.'''
−
** The Two Pioneers
.
+
** The Two Pioneers
−
* The salvation of the world depends on the men who will not take evil good-humouredly, and whose laughter destroys the fool instead of encouraging him.
+
*
'''
The
[[
salvation
]]
of the
[[
world
]]
depends on the men who will not take
[[
evil
]]
[[
good
]]
-
[[
humouredly
]]
, and whose
[[
laughter
]]
destroys the
[[
fool
]]
instead of
[[
encouraging
]]
him.
'''
** What is the New Element in the Norwegian School?
** What is the New Element in the Norwegian School?