Quotes from workBack to Methuselah
Back to Methuselah by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface and a series of five plays: In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 , The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, and As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920.
“There are no secrets except the secrets that keep themselves.”
George Bernard Shaw Back to Methuselah
Confucius, in Pt. III : The Thing Happens
1920s, Back to Methuselah (1921)
“When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”
George Bernard Shaw Back to Methuselah
Source: Back to Methuselah
George Bernard Shaw Back to Methuselah
The She-Ancient, in Pt. V
Source: 1920s, Back to Methuselah (1921)
Context: Art is the magic mirror you make to reflect your invisible dreams in visible pictures. You use a glass mirror to see your face: you use works of art to see your soul. But we who are older use neither glass mirrors nor works of art. We have a direct sense of life. When you gain that you will put aside your mirrors and statues, your toys and your dolls.
George Bernard Shaw Back to Methuselah
The Serpent, in Pt. I : In the Beginning, Act I; this quote is sometimes misattributed to Robert F. Kennedy; it is often paraphrased slightly in a few different ways, including:
You see things as they are and ask, "Why?" I dream things as they never were and ask, "Why not?"
Variant: You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?
Source: 1920s, Back to Methuselah (1921)
