--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been…" description: "\"I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been an extremely successful play all over Europe and North America as well as at home. It is so intensely and delib..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/george-bernard-shaw-68_actor_i-wish-to-boast-that-pygmalion-has-been_1852471.jpg" --- # I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been an extremely… ![“I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been an extremely successful play all over Europe and North America as well as at home. It is so intensely and deliberately didactic, and its subject is esteemed so dry, that I delight in throwing it at the heads of the wiseacres who repeat the parrot cry that…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/george-bernard-shaw-68_actor_i-wish-to-boast-that-pygmalion-has-been_1852471.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/george-bernard-shaw-68_actor_i-wish-to-boast-that-pygmalion-has-been_1852471.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/george-bernard-shaw-68_actor_i-wish-to-boast-that-pygmalion-has-been_1852471.jpg) > “I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been an extremely successful play all over Europe and North America as well as at home. It is so intensely and deliberately didactic, and its subject is esteemed so dry, that I delight in throwing it at the heads of the wiseacres who repeat the parrot cry that art should never be didactic. It goes to prove my contention that art should never be anything else.” [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. Art should not be purely didactic; it must engage and challenge audiences rather than merely instruct. **In simple terms:** Art must inspire, not just teach. Key Takeaway Create art that provokes thought. Themes art didacticism engagement Mood critical challenging Type theatrical satirical When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - media production - creative writing Key Concepts theatre education audience interaction Questions to Reflect On - When does instruction become oppression? - How can art educate without preaching? A Different Perspective Overly didactic art can alienate audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Annoying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annoying/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Didactic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-didactic-2440256/) [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Boast Pygmalion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast-pygmalion-2440255/) [Contention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contention/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Deliberately Didactic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deliberately-didactic-2440257/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Didactic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didactic/) [Dry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dry/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [North america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/north-america/) [Parrots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parrots/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Prove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prove/) [Pygmalion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pygmalion/) [Pygmalion Extremely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pygmalion-extremely-2440254/) [Repeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repeats/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Throwing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throwing/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [When I was growing up and going to art school and learning about African-American art, much of it was a type of political art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/when-i-was-growing-up-and-going-to-art-school-and-learning-about/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/remember-that-you-are-a-human-being-with-a-soul-and-the-divine-gift/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Am reserving two tickets for you for my premiere. 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LIZA \[\*halting, tempted\*\] How… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/higgins-snatching-a-chocolate-cream-from-the-piano-his-eyes-suddenly/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/happy-is-the-man-who-can-make-a-living-by-his-hobby/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The great secret...is not having bad manners or good manners...but having the same manner for all human souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-great-secret-is-not-having-bad-manners-or-good-manners-but-having/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Making Life means making trouble”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/making-life-means-making-trouble/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“If an imaginative boy has a sufficiently rich mother who has intelligence, personal grace, dignity of character without harshness, and a cultivated sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-an-imaginative-boy-has-a-sufficiently-rich-mother-who-has/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/galatea-never-does-quite-like-pygmalion-his-relation-to-her-is-too/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/it-is-impossible-for-an-englishman-to-open-his-mouth-without-making/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [If 'Pygmalion' is not good enough for your friends with its own verbal music, their talent must be altogether extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-pygmalion-is-not-good-enough-for-your-friends-with-its-own-verbal/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I don't want to talk grammar. I want to talk like a lady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-don-t-want-to-talk-grammar-i-want-to-talk-like-a-lady/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I find that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-find-that-the-moment-i-let-a-woman-make-friends-with-me-she-becomes/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“The weak may not be admired and hero-worshipped; but they are by no means disliked or shunned; and they never seem to have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-weak-may-not-be-admired-and-hero-worshipped-but-they-are-by-no/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Women upset everything. 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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. 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