--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [H]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the…" description: "\"“[H]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.”\" — George Bernard Shaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png" --- # \[H\]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his… ![“[H]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png) > ““\[H\]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.”” [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. A barbarian believes his tribe's customs are universal natural law. **In simple terms:** Barbarians think their customs are the law of nature. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about cultural relativism. Themes cultural relativism ethnocentrism law tradition Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - colonial encounters - social policy - education curricula Key Concepts anthropology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What defines a law versus a custom? - How do we respect diversity while upholding rights? A Different Perspective May overlook universal human rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarian/) [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) [Customs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customs/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Self centered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-centered/) ## Related quotes > [The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-true-barbarian-is-he-who-thinks-everything-barbarous-but-his-own/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“BRITANNUS (shocked). Caesar: this is not proper. THEODOTUS (outraged). How! CAESAR (recovering his self-possession). Pardon him. Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/britannus-shocked-caesar-this-is-not-proper-theodotus-outraged-how/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Fatally, the term 'barbarian' is the password that opens up the archives of the twentieth century. It refers to the despiser of achievement, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/fatally-the-term-barbarian-is-the-password-that-opens-up-the-archives/) [Peter Sloterdijk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sloterdijk/) > [“The more we claim to discriminate between cultures and customs as good and bad, the more completely do we identify ourselves with those we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/the-more-we-claim-to-discriminate-between-cultures-and-customs-as/) [Claude Lévi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [“The Barbarian hopes — and that is the mark of him, that he can have his cake and eat it too.He will consume what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-barbarian-hopes-and-that-is-the-mark-of-him-that-he-can-have-his/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [“Barbarism? Hah! When we kills people we do it there and then, lookin' 'em in the eye, and we'd be happy to buy 'em…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/barbarism-hah-when-we-kills-people-we-do-it-there-and-then-lookin-em/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/forgive-him-for-he-believes-that-the-customs-of-his-tribe-are-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Nothing but the natural ignorance of the public, countenanced by the inoculated erroneousness of the ordinary general medical practitioners, makes such a barbarism as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nothing-but-the-natural-ignorance-of-the-public-countenanced-by-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Deep knowledge is not knowledge of the thing itself, but knowledge of a thing like the thing. Then, you gain not one knowledge, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/deep-knowledge-is-not-knowledge-of-the-thing-itself-but-knowledge-of/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“(First Barbarian): whats the difference between a lord and a barbarian? (second Barbarian): As little as a week!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-gonick/first-barbarian-whats-the-difference-between-a-lord-and-a-barbarian/) Larry Gonick > [If you go back to the Conan the Barbarian series, I really liked that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-braugher/if-you-go-back-to-the-conan-the-barbarian-series-i-really-liked-that/) [Andre Braugher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-braugher/) > [“The barbarian loves his own pride, and hates, or disbelieves in, the pride of others. I will be a civilized being, I will love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-blixen/the-barbarian-loves-his-own-pride-and-hates-or-disbelieves-in-the/) [Karen Blixen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-blixen/) > [“It wasn't too much, to take a frail figure into one's arms for those last moments of life. Better than a cot, or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/it-wasn-t-too-much-to-take-a-frail-figure-into-one-s-arms-for-those/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [There are three attributes for which I am grateful to Fortune: that I was born, first, human and not animal; second, man and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thales/there-are-three-attributes-for-which-i-am-grateful-to-fortune-that-i/) [Thales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thales/) > [One simply cannot engage in barbarous action without becoming a barbarian, because one cannot defend human values by calculated and unprovoked violence without doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/one-simply-cannot-engage-in-barbarous-action-without-becoming-a/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) ## 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 Barbarian quotes > [One simply cannot engage in barbarous action without becoming a barbarian, because one cannot defend human values by calculated and unprovoked violence without doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/one-simply-cannot-engage-in-barbarous-action-without-becoming-a/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [If you go back to the Conan the Barbarian series, I really liked that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-braugher/if-you-go-back-to-the-conan-the-barbarian-series-i-really-liked-that/) [Andre Braugher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-braugher/) > [“(First Barbarian): whats the difference between a lord and a barbarian? (second Barbarian): As little as a week!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-gonick/first-barbarian-whats-the-difference-between-a-lord-and-a-barbarian/) Larry Gonick > [There are three attributes for which I am grateful to Fortune: that I was born, first, human and not animal; second, man and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thales/there-are-three-attributes-for-which-i-am-grateful-to-fortune-that-i/) [Thales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thales/) > [“It wasn't too much, to take a frail figure into one's arms for those last moments of life. Better than a cot, or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/it-wasn-t-too-much-to-take-a-frail-figure-into-one-s-arms-for-those/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [“The barbarian loves his own pride, and hates, or disbelieves in, the pride of others. I will be a civilized being, I will love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-blixen/the-barbarian-loves-his-own-pride-and-hates-or-disbelieves-in-the/) [Karen Blixen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-blixen/) > [“The Barbarian hopes — and that is the mark of him, that he can have his cake and eat it too.He will consume what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-barbarian-hopes-and-that-is-the-mark-of-him-that-he-can-have-his/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [“I don't believe in virgin sacrifice. It encourages promiscuity at an early age”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrianne-ambrose/i-don-t-believe-in-virgin-sacrifice-it-encourages-promiscuity-at-an/) Adrianne Ambrose > [It is better to kill the barbarian during his coming than to tell your children that there was culture, but the barbarians came and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/it-is-better-to-kill-the-barbarian-during-his-coming-than-to-tell/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [How is it that in the so-called barbarian ages art was understood, whereas in our age of progress exactly the opposite is true?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-auguste-renoir/how-is-it-that-in-the-so-called-barbarian-ages-art-was-understood/) [Pierre-Auguste Renoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-auguste-renoir/) > [The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-true-barbarian-is-he-who-thinks-everything-barbarous-but-his-own/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Conan the Barbarian,' 'Star Wars,' 'Mary Poppins' and 'The Wizard of Oz' were my earliest VHS obsessions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-eggers/conan-the-barbarian-star-wars-mary-poppins-and-the-wizard-of-oz-were/) [Robert Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-eggers/) > [“It was as if all my life had been spent fighting, killing and running. I wanted peace but I knew it was unattainable. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-nath/it-was-as-if-all-my-life-had-been-spent-fighting-killing-and-running/) Fredrik Nath > [“How DARE you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, Mighty Caesar ! Rape, murder,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-buchman/how-dare-you-and-the-rest-of-your-barbarians-set-fire-to-my-library/) sidney buchman > [To be a great autocrat you must be a great barbarian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/to-be-a-great-autocrat-you-must-be-a-great-barbarian/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Browse all 88 Barbarian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[H]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-customs-of-his-tribe-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-customs-of-his-tribe-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/george-bernard-shaw-68_barbarian_h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-c_831634.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[H]e is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.” — 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": "“[H]e is a barbarian, and thinks...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-customs-of-his-tribe-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/h-e-is-a-barbarian-and-thinks-that-the-customs-of-his-tribe-and/#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 } } ] } ```