--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reasonable people adapt themselves to the…" description: "\"“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_george-bernard-shaw_reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-th_2070699.png" --- # Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world… ![“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people. —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW” quote by Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_george-bernard-shaw_reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-th_2070699.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_george-bernard-shaw_reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-th_2070699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_george-bernard-shaw_reasonable-people-adapt-themselves-to-th_2070699.png) > ““Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people. —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW”” [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reasonable people adapt; unreasonable ones try to change the world; progress relies on the latter. **In simple terms:** Progress needs people who challenge norms. Key Takeaway Embrace bold ideas. Themes progress unreasonableness innovation Mood thought‑provoking philosophical Type inspirational analytical When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - scientific research - social reform Key Concepts social change creative thinking revolutionary ideas Questions to Reflect On - When is it wise to challenge the status quo? - How can we balance reason and rebellion? A Different Perspective Unreasonable actions can cause conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [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/) > [Human progress depends on unreasonable people. Reasonable people accept the world as they meet it; unreasonable people persist in trying to change it. Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-geldof/human-progress-depends-on-unreasonable-people-reasonable-people/) [Bob Geldof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-geldof/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [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/george-bernard-shaw/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-6/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“reasonable people often have difficulty anticipating irrationality from unreasonable people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-adair/reasonable-people-often-have-difficulty-anticipating-irrationality/) [Bobby Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-adair/) > [“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/) > [“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 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/) > [The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-real-trouble-with-this-world-of-ours-is-not-that-it-is-an-3/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-reasonable-man-adapts-himself-to-the-world-the-unreasonable-one-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable one. The trouble is that it is nearly reasonable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-real-trouble-with-this-world-of-ours-is-not-that-it-is-an-2/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-real-trouble-with-this-world-of-ours-is-not-that-it-is-an/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [People adapt. People change. You can grow where you're planted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-addison-allen/people-adapt-people-change-you-can-grow-where-you-re-planted/) [Sarah Addison Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-addison-allen/) ## More by Nicholas D. Kristof > [Random violence is incredibly infectious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/random-violence-is-incredibly-infectious/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Our national leaders tend to try to protect the national interest as they see it. 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Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of unborn fetuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/americans-of-faith-should-try-as-hard-to-save-the-lives-of-african/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Palestinian militancy has accomplished nothing but increasing the misery of the Palestinian people. If Palestinians instead turned more to huge Gandhi-style nonviolence resistance campaigns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/palestinian-militancy-has-accomplished-nothing-but-increasing-the/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [The news media's silence, particularly television news, is reprehensible. 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You never lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/one-of-the-principles-of-journalism-is-you-don-t-lie-you-never-lie/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [You could perhaps better tell the story of a place by writing of a tiny village as a sort of prism into the bigger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/you-could-perhaps-better-tell-the-story-of-a-place-by-writing-of-a/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [All of a sudden their husband's dead and maybe a child is dead and they have absolutely nothing - and they're heading through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/all-of-a-sudden-their-husband-s-dead-and-maybe-a-child-is-dead-and/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) [Explore all 107 Nicholas D. Kristof quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) ## More George Bernard Shaw quotes > [As George Bernard Shaw observed: "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Yet I have to say, the idea that there is intelligent life elsewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/as-george-bernard-shaw-observed-all-great-truths-begin-as-blasphemies/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [If a farmer calls me to a sick animal, he couldn't care less if I were George Bernard Shaw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-herriot/if-a-farmer-calls-me-to-a-sick-animal-he-couldn-t-care-less-if-i-were/) [James Herriot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-herriot/) > [“was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/was-an-english-poet-and-playwright-widely-regarded-as-the-greatest/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Nobody can read Freud without realizing that he was the scientific equivalent of another nuisance, George Bernard Shaw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/nobody-can-read-freud-without-realizing-that-he-was-the-scientific/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance. - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-you-can-t-get-rid-of-the-skeleton-in-your-closet-you-d-best-teach/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“It was George Bernard Shaw who famously said that you should not do to others as you would wish to be done to -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-buckingham/it-was-george-bernard-shaw-who-famously-said-that-you-should-not-do/) Will Buckingham > [Rees's First Law of Quotations: When in doubt, ascribe all quotations to George Bernard Shaw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-rees/rees-s-first-law-of-quotations-when-in-doubt-ascribe-all-quotations/) [Nigel Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-rees/) > [“My feelings about Das Kapital are the same as my feelings about the Koran. I know that it is historically important and I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/my-feelings-about-das-kapital-are-the-same-as-my-feelings-about-the/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-levinson/the-people-who-get-on-in-this-world-are-the-people-who-get-up-and/) Steve Levinson > [“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/) > [People believe pictures. It's a photograph that's in your passport, not a painting. Now, George Bernard Shaw said, 'I would exchange every painting of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jones-griffiths/people-believe-pictures-it-s-a-photograph-that-s-in-your-passport-not/) [Philip Jones Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jones-griffiths/) > [I made use of the college library by borrowing books other than scientific books, such as all of the plays by George Bernard Shaw,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/i-made-use-of-the-college-library-by-borrowing-books-other-than/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) > [“George Bernard Shaw once observed: “People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ury/george-bernard-shaw-once-observed-people-become-attached-to-their/) [William Ury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ury/) > [“His method resembles George Bernard Shaw’s way of using the /f/ sound of GH in “tough,” the /i/ sound of o in “women,” and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kahn/his-method-resembles-george-bernard-shaw-s-way-of-using-the-f-sound/) [David Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kahn/) > [“Some men see things as they are, and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were, and say, ‘Why not?’” —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-robbins/some-men-see-things-as-they-are-and-say-why-i-dream-of-things-that-2/) [Anthony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-robbins/) Browse all 72 George Bernard Shaw quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. 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