Tell me your reaction to this quotation from George Bernard Shaw:?

Question

“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'

Answer 1

I think it means don't limit yourself. Pursue your dreams. Make them come true if you can.

Answer 2

Reaction to the surface meaning: don't be negative about life--try to make the things you imagine with depth and force real.

But then, I have a cynical reaction as well. I remember the preacher of Ecclesiastes (there's nothing new under the sun) so that what you can dream has been.

I seldom think the question "why" answers anything anyway, and I get the picture of a Bunbury type character chattering away meaninglessly about what he thinks passes for philosophy while blowing smoke rings. Hey Ho, Maggie.

Answer 3

This was Bobby Kennedy's political motto. His use of this Shaw quotation has colored its meaning for US citizens in the last few decades; namely, there are some people who always see how bad things are and try to figure out what went wrong, and there are others who see how things could be improved and try to figure out practical ways to achieve that end.

Most of us, if the truth be known, are moderates and we think it is equally important (for example) to determine how Bush and Blair let things get so very bad in the Middle East and to envision how their successors (God help them!) can work toward making things better. Figure out what the problem is/was, and figure out a practical way to improve the situation. Our current do-nothing, see-nothing, hear-nothing Congress seems determined to do neither.

Sorry for the soapbox, but you asked for my reaction, and that's it. I could never have been a Kennedy liberal, but I also could never have been a Bush neoconservative. I guess I prefer FDR's "Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground."

Here are two more of my favorite Shaw quotations:

"Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few."

"I tell you that as long as I can conceive something better than myself I cannot be easy unless I am striving to bring it into existence or clearing the way for it."

Answer 4

i think of GBS became into being slightly harsh here. Feeling anger and hate for a individual who went out of their thank you to intimidate you seems a typical human reaction. you does not often decide to love and adore them would you. consistent with probability hate is purely too sturdy a word, dislike would be extra advantageous. Having those thoughts does not often make you a coward searching for revenge. GBS is speaking from the vantage component of an relatively effectual, sensible and beneficial individual. no longer all and sundry has such luck. IMHO.

Answer 5

Yeah. OK. Why Not? How else would we get inventions? Unless the aliens are doing the inventing, a human being has to give some thought to advancing to the next level.

Answer 6

That's very nice for you, Mr. Shaw, but us mere mortals need to understand the 'whys' before attempting to innovate towards the 'why nots'. We all have imagination, but not all of us have the foundations.

Answer 7

Progressive;Pro-active;Inspiring

Answer 8

Nice. Deep. Thanx 4 the lesson,mate.

Answer 9

Pessimistic

Answer 10

A Very Wise Man.

Answer 11

ITS A COMMENTARY ON BEING POSITIVE, ON HOPE FOR BETTER THINGS TO COME THAT JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING "ISN'T " DOESN'T MEAN IT NEVER COULD BE.

THIS KIND OF REMINDS ME OF AN OLD STORY ABOUT A FINAL EXAM FOR A COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY COURSE. . . . . AFTER DOING ALL THE "CRAMMING" FOR THE EXAM THE STUDENTS FOUND THAT THE ENTIRE EXAM CONSISTED OF A ONE WORD ESSAY QUESTION . . . . "WHY" . ALL THE STUDENTS LABORED LONG AND HARD TO WRITE AN INTELLIGENT ESSAY USING ALL THE THEORIES THEY HAD STUDIED ALL SEMESTER, EXCEPT FOR ONE PERSON WHO HANDED IN HIS ANSWER IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES AND .FOR WHICH HE RECEIVED THE ONLY "A" GIVEN . HIS ANSWER TO THE QUESTION "WHY" WAS ONLY TWO WORDS . . . . "WHY NOT"