--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact…" description: "\"“In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg" --- # In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer… ![“In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg) > ““In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.”” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is not a reliable measure of truth; both believers and skeptics can be content or discontent. **In simple terms:** Contentment doesn’t prove belief. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about happiness and belief. Themes philosophy belief happiness Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical skeptical When to use this quote - personal reflection - debates - public discourse Key Concepts epistemology psychology Questions to Reflect On - Is happiness a valid argument for belief? - What other metrics matter? A Different Perspective Happiness can be misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier-than-a-skeptic-is-no-more-to-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“George Bernard Shaw wrote in the 1912 play Androcles and the Lion, “The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-g-mcafee/george-bernard-shaw-wrote-in-the-1912-play-androcles-and-the-lion-the/) [David G. McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-g-mcafee/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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 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 > [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/) > [“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 > [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/) > [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 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/) > [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/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. 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If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Bernard shaw quotes > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [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/) > [My toils in the quotation field have led me to formulate two or three laws about the way people use and abuse quotations. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-rees/my-toils-in-the-quotation-field-have-led-me-to-formulate-two-or-three/) [Nigel Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-rees/) > [Erik Erikson has commented: Potentially creative men like (Bernard) Shaw build the personal fundament of their work during a self-decreed moratorium, during which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/erik-erikson-has-commented-potentially-creative-men-like-bernard-shaw/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Bernard Shaw remains the only model we have of what the citizen of a democracy should be: an informed participant in all things we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/bernard-shaw-remains-the-only-model-we-have-of-what-the-citizen-of-a/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [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/) > [In two thousand years all our generals and politicians may be forgotten, but Einstein and Madame Curie and Bernard Shaw and Stravinsky will keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/in-two-thousand-years-all-our-generals-and-politicians-may-be/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [I must say Bernard Shaw is greatly improved by music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-must-say-bernard-shaw-is-greatly-improved-by-music/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [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/) > [The way Bernard Shaw believes in himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many people believe in no God at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-zangwill/the-way-bernard-shaw-believes-in-himself-is-very-refreshing-in-these/) [Israel Zangwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-zangwill/) > [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 > [We depend on the critics to give us a glimpse of what happened. Bernard Shaw championed Ibsen, who got the most terrible notices for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-rigg/we-depend-on-the-critics-to-give-us-a-glimpse-of-what-happened/) [Diana Rigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-rigg/) > [As yet, Bernard Shaw hasn't become prominent enough to have any enemies, but none of his friends like him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/as-yet-bernard-shaw-hasn-t-become-prominent-enough-to-have-any/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [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/) Browse all 79 Bernard shaw quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bernard shaw" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/richard-dawkins-115_george-bernard-shaw_in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact_1078467.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point…” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In George Bernard Shaw’s words, ‘The...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/in-george-bernard-shaw-s-words-the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier/#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 } } ] } ```