--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With the single exception of Homer, there…" description: "\"With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare when..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/george-bernard-shaw-68_despise_with-the-single-exception-of-homer-there_56597.jpg" --- # With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent… ![“With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind against his. . . . It would positively be a relief to me to dig him up and throw stones at him.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/george-bernard-shaw-68_despise_with-the-single-exception-of-homer-there_56597.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/george-bernard-shaw-68_despise_with-the-single-exception-of-homer-there_56597.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/george-bernard-shaw-68_despise_with-the-single-exception-of-homer-there_56597.jpg) > “With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind against his. . . . It would positively be a relief to me to dig him up and throw stones at him.” [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. Shaw expresses a deep, personal disdain for Shakespeare, feeling his own intellect cannot measure up to Shakespeare's, leading to a desire to symbolically 'dig him up' and criticize him. **In simple terms:** Intellectual rivalry with Shakespeare Key Takeaway Shakespeare's dominance can provoke strong negative reactions Themes Literary criticism Ego and self-comparison Cultural canon Personal taste Intellectual humility Mood Irritation Contempt Reflective Type Opinion Critique Reflection When to use this quote - Academic debate about classic authors - Personal reflection on artistic influence - Discussions on literary can - Creative writing workshops - Philosophical essays on taste Key Concepts Shakespeare's legacy Shaw's self-perception Literary hierarchy Critique of reverence Practical Applications - Analyzing personal bias in literary criticism - Teaching critical thinking about cultural icons Questions to Reflect On - Why does Shakespeare evoke such strong feelings in some readers? - How does personal ego shape our judgments of great works? A Different Perspective Some argue that Shakespeare's universal appeal outweighs individual dislike, suggesting that personal bias should not diminish his contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Relief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relief/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Having been bred amongst mountains I am always unhappy when in a flat country. 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Life on the Mississippi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sir-walter-scott-created-rank-caste-in-the-south-and-also-reverence/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“You, who taught us to love our Walter Scott next to our “Christian Year,” and who gave us half-crowns for rehearsing him when other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mary-yonge/you-who-taught-us-to-love-our-walter-scott-next-to-our-christian-year/) [Charlotte Mary Yonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mary-yonge/) > [Send me no more reviews of any kind. I will read no more of evil or good in that line. Walter Scott has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/send-me-no-more-reviews-of-any-kind-i-will-read-no-more-of-evil-or/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“No thing worth while is obtained in this life without sacrificing, without putting forth effort. 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Because her soul swims in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/sixsmith-eva-because-her-name-is-a-synonym-for-temptation-what-treads/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Like Jonathan Swift, Yeats was always a great renamer of his women, giving them mythical aliases or the names of Sir Walter Scott’s heroines,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-shakespear/like-jonathan-swift-yeats-was-always-a-great-renamer-of-his-women/) [Olivia Shakespear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-shakespear/) > [ “I \[...\] suggest considering Byron as a Scottish poet – I say ’Scottish’, not ’Scots’, since he wrote in English. The one poet of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-suggest-considering-byron-as-a-scottish-poet-i-say-scottish-not/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“You and I are from two different worlds." "Nonsense. We have much in common. We both like books, dogs, poems, Sir Walter Scott, dogs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/you-and-i-are-from-two-different-worlds-nonsense-we-have-much-in/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [How much he was shaped by being in the hospital so much as a kid. Because he was sick, he was a reader, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/how-much-he-was-shaped-by-being-in-the-hospital-so-much-as-a-kid/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) ## 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. 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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. 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 Despise quotes > [My whole life has conspired to bring me to this place, and I can’t despise my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-whole-life-has-conspired-to-bring-me-to-this-place-and-i-can-t/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-may-be-important-to-great-thinkers-to-examine-the-world-to-explain/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“You don’t know what it’s like to worry you’ll start to despise the people who help you, the ones you should love, because they’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-guzeman/you-don-t-know-what-it-s-like-to-worry-you-ll-start-to-despise-the/) [Tracy Guzeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-guzeman/) > [Never despise a drink because it is easy to make and/or uses commercial mixes. Unquestioning devotion to authenticity is, in any department of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/never-despise-a-drink-because-it-is-easy-to-make-and-or-uses/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [Everyone has conscience enough to hate; few have religion enough to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/everyone-has-conscience-enough-to-hate-few-have-religion-enough-to/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I agree that biphobia is real, but I think it's absolutely worth considering that someone who "despises" having sex with her husband - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mallory-ortberg/i-agree-that-biphobia-is-real-but-i-think-it-s-absolutely-worth/) [Mallory Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mallory-ortberg/) > [If you want to know how to make people shun you and laugh at you behind your back and even despise you, here is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/if-you-want-to-know-how-to-make-people-shun-you-and-laugh-at-you/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/russians-not-only-vehemently-despise-blacks-they-believe-africa/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I despise a person of little mind - one might as well not have any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-dunham-kelley-hawkins/i-despise-a-person-of-little-mind-one-might-as-well-not-have-any/) Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins > [I despise computers in many ways. I think they’re hopelessly underevolved and overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-despise-computers-in-many-ways-i-think-they-re-hopelessly/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I despise the pleasure of pleasing people that I despise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wortley-montagu/i-despise-the-pleasure-of-pleasing-people-that-i-despise/) [Mary Wortley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wortley-montagu/) > [It was beautiful and rare, and you have every right to despise me." She stood pressed to the wall, not moving. 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