--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God has given us a world that nothing but…" description: "\"God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly keeps from being a paradise.\" — George Bernard Shaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png" --- # God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly… ![“God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly keeps from being a paradise.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png) > “God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly keeps from being a paradise.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human folly prevents us from realizing a perfect world; we must overcome our own mistakes. **In simple terms:** Our own errors keep us from paradise. Key Takeaway Address personal and societal flaws. Themes human nature paradise folly responsibility Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - environmental stewardship - political reform - personal ethics Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - What personal folly hinders your happiness? - How can collective action create a better world? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore systemic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Given World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-world-291216/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-given/) [Keeps Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keeps-paradise-5503483/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-folly-4375029/) ## Related quotes > [To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/to-wish-to-act-like-angels-while-we-are-still-in-this-world-is/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/seize-the-moments-of-happiness-love-and-be-loved-that-is-the-only-2/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/seize-the-moments-of-happiness-love-and-be-loved-that-is-the-only/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Together we have given the world the possibility of one day living on a truly mine-free planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jody-williams/together-we-have-given-the-world-the-possibility-of-one-day-living-on/) [Jody Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jody-williams/) > [The description you have been given of the world is an aberrant one. It does not accept and give proper place to the nagual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-description-you-have-been-given-of-the-world-is-an-aberrant-one/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Dont blame me. I was given this world, I didn't take it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-blame-me-i-was-given-this-world-i-didn-t-take-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing is given to you in this world, so you have to work hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cain-velasquez/nothing-is-given-to-you-in-this-world-so-you-have-to-work-hard/) [Cain Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cain-velasquez/) > [“In you, we have given this world a great gift—and of that, I have no doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/in-you-we-have-given-this-world-a-great-gift-and-of-that-i-have-no/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it would not fill his emptiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/and-if-a-person-were-given-all-of-the-world-and-what-is-in-it-it/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [We vary greatly in the natural advantages that we've been given. The world's not fair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/we-vary-greatly-in-the-natural-advantages-that-we-ve-been-given-the/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“We are alive and we resonate with idea of life elsewhere, but only careful accumulation and assessment of the evidence can tell us whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-alive-and-we-resonate-with-idea-of-life-elsewhere-but-only/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“She had given herself to the world in her entirety and then found nothing was left”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-had-given-herself-to-the-world-in-her-entirety-and-then-found/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I would have given you the world if you had given me the chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-collins/i-would-have-given-you-the-world-if-you-had-given-me-the-chance/) [Jess Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-collins/) > [“What the world gives us.. what we given to the world.. Life is beyond us.. nobody ask to live.. \\”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dhamo/what-the-world-gives-us-what-we-given-to-the-world-life-is-beyond-us/) [G.dhamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dhamo/) > [I would have given you the world if you'd have given me the chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-have-given-you-the-world-if-you-d-have-given-me-the-chance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Folly quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [“Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/understanding-is-a-wellspring-of-life-unto-him-that-hath-it-but-the/) [Proverbs 16:22 Bible KJV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/) > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What curious little corners of folly are to be found in even the sanest brain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-of-romania/what-curious-little-corners-of-folly-are-to-be-found-in-even-the/) [Marie of Romania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-of-romania/) > [Unnecessary hustle is one of the American follies. We hustle at both work and play, and consequently enjoy neither to the utmost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/unnecessary-hustle-is-one-of-the-american-follies-we-hustle-at-both/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Democracy is the worst form of government. It is the most inefficient, the most clumsy, the most unpractical… It reduces wisdom to impotence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/democracy-is-the-worst-form-of-government-it-is-the-most-inefficient/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [One's conscience reproaches one much more stingingly for one's follies than one's crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-jewsbury/one-s-conscience-reproaches-one-much-more-stingingly-for-one-s/) [Geraldine Jewsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-jewsbury/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride and folly than we are taxed by government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/we-are-more-heavily-taxed-by-our-idleness-pride-and-folly-than-we-are/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Browse all 1,246 Folly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly keeps from being a paradise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-but-our-own-folly-keeps-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Folly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-but-our-own-folly-keeps-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/george-bernard-shaw-68_folly_god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-bu_3125036.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“God has given us a world that nothing but our own folly keeps from being a paradise.” — George Bernard Shaw", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "God has given us a world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-but-our-own-folly-keeps-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/god-has-given-us-a-world-that-nothing-but-our-own-folly-keeps-from/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```