The wisdom of George Bernard Shaw

"The power of accurate observation
      is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."


George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature

Shaw was an ardent socialist—in the context of his time, he was a Fabian. Hard to tell if his remark on cynicism comes from his literary side or his political side…..maybe both. I struggle to avoid thinking that my thinking about politics and our political/cultural democracy is merely cynical…..most of the time I convince myself that there is a frightful dose of realistic, accurate observation involved, and I can swallow that only with a pinch of fantastic hope….

Anyway, perhaps you know that Shaw wrote Pygmalion in 1912. That's the play that was turned into My Fair Lady by, among others, Alan Jay Lerner, who contributed the divine lyrics. Shaw's dialogue was real good, but it was different.

My favorite work by GBS is Saint Joan, a 1923 play that was believed to have catalyzed his selection for the Nobel Prize. Saint Joan is a delicately simmering interpretation of the life and tempestuous times of Joan of Arc…..Shaw allows her to say "I cannot bear to be hurt." Perhaps she did not entirely welcome her fate.


I dare you to try to name anything else written by Shaw. He wrote five novels, two short stories, about 50 plays and almost two dozen published collections of essays. Yeah, I know, I couldn't name any of them either….