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Eternal Quote by George Bernard Shaw

“...Hell is the home of the unreal and of the seekers for happiness. It is the only refuge from heaven, which is, as I tell you, the home of the masters of reality, and from earth, which is the home of the slaves of reality. The earth is a nursery in which men and women play at being heroes and…” quote by George Bernard Shaw
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““...Hell is the home of the unreal and of the seekers for happiness. It is the only refuge from heaven, which is, as I tell you, the home of the masters of reality, and from earth, which is the home of the slaves of reality. The earth is a nursery in which men and women play at being heroes and heroines, saints and sinners; but they are dragged down from their fool’s paradise by their bodies: hunger and cold and thirst, age and decay and disease, death above all, make them slaves of reality: thrice a day meals must be eaten and digested: thrice a century a new generation must be engendered: ages of faith, of romance, and of science are all driven at last to have but one prayer, “Make me a healthy animal.” But here you escape this tyranny of the flesh; for here you are not an animal at all: you are a ghost, an appearance, an illusion, a convention, deathless, ageless: in a word, bodiless. There are no social questions here, no political questions, no religious questions, best of all, perhaps, no sanitary questions. Here you call your appearance beauty, your emotions love, your sentiments heroism, your aspirations virtue, just as you did on earth; but here there are no hard facts to contradict you, no ironic contrast of your needs with your pretensions, no human comedy, nothing but a perpetual romance, a universal melodrama. As our German friend put it in his poem, “the poetically nonsensical here is good sense; and the Eternal Feminine draws us ever upward and on...””

George Bernard Shaw

About This Quote

Source Play: Man and Superman, 1903

The quote contrasts the illusory, idealized realm of the mind with the harsh, bodily constraints of earthly life, suggesting that true freedom lies beyond physical reality.

In simple terms: Freedom is found beyond physical limits.

Key Takeaway

Seek mental liberation beyond material constraints.

Themes

philosophy existentialism freedom illusion reality

Mood

reflective melancholic

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

  • Meditation
  • creative writing
  • spiritual practice
  • philosophical debate

Key Concepts

Metaphysics human condition escapism

Questions to Reflect On

  • Do you value mental freedom over physical needs?
  • Can one live fully without bodily concerns?
A Different Perspective

It may ignore practical responsibilities and social engagement.

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