--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reasonable man adapts himself to the…" description: "\"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png" --- # The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the… ![“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png) > “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” [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. Unreasonable people drive progress by challenging the status quo. **In simple terms:** Unreasonable people push change. Key Takeaway Value dissent for progress. Themes progress individualism change Mood provocative inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - business strategy - social activism - education reform Key Concepts Social dynamics innovation theory Questions to Reflect On - How can dissent be constructive? - What role does stubbornness play in innovation? A Different Perspective Unreasonable can be disruptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-life/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Reasonable man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasonable-man/) [Unreasonable Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreasonable-man/) ## Related quotes > [“As the playwright George Bernard Shaw once put it: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/as-the-playwright-george-bernard-shaw-once-put-it-the-reasonable-man/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world around him; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-around-him-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-4/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-bing/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one/) [Stanley Bing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-bing/) > [“– The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-hollingshead/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-2/) [Iain Hollingshead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-hollingshead/) > [“George Bernard Shaw once put it: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/george-bernard-shaw-once-put-it-the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [The reasonable man will adjust to the demands of his environment. The unreasonable man expects his environment to adjust to his own needs. Therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-will-adjust-to-the-demands-of-his-environment-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A reasonable man adjusts himself to the world. An unreasonable man expects the world to adjust itself to him. Therefore all progress is made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/a-reasonable-man-adjusts-himself-to-the-world-an-unreasonable-man/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-5/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“Reasonable men adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable men adapt the world to themselves. That´s why all progress depends on unreasonable men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/reasonable-men-adapt-themselves-to-the-world-unreasonable-men-adapt/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-the-world-unreasonable-people-2/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people. —GEORGE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-the-world-unreasonable-people/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [“Progress depends on the unreasonable man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-guthrie/progress-depends-on-the-unreasonable-man/) Julian Guthrie > [All progress depends on the unreasonable man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-progress-depends-on-the-unreasonable-man/) [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 Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-6/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-6/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/george-bernard-shaw-68_life_the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the_3034190.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world…” — 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": "The reasonable man adapts himself to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-6/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-6/#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 } } ] } ```