--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a…" description: "\"Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most embarrassing business.\" — Stacy Aumonier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg" --- # Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most… ![“Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most embarrassing business.” quote by Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg) > “Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most embarrassing business.” [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prefaces can feel pretentious unless you’re a recognized playwright like Bernard Shaw. **In simple terms:** Prefaces seem pretentious without fame. Key Takeaway Write introductions modestly. Themes literary criticism humor self‑awareness Mood witty critical Type satirical observational When to use this quote - publishing a novel - writing a foreword - academic essays Key Concepts authorial voice public perception literary tradition Questions to Reflect On - Should you omit a preface to avoid embarrassment? - How can you make a preface engaging for all readers? A Different Perspective Not all readers share the same expectations of prefaces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related 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 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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Stacy Aumonier > [If memory survived eternally, then indeed there might be justification for a belief in hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/if-memory-survived-eternally-then-indeed-there-might-be-justification/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [It is always easier to be an epicure of a small repast than of a banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/it-is-always-easier-to-be-an-epicure-of-a-small-repast-than-of-a/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [One lives everything down in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/one-lives-everything-down-in-time/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Tradition is a fine thing. Nothing comes out of the blue, except perhaps thunderbolts and they are not really very useful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/tradition-is-a-fine-thing-nothing-comes-out-of-the-blue-except/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [The basic trouble is that people make statements without sufficient data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/the-basic-trouble-is-that-people-make-statements-without-sufficient/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Women are like those blinkin' little Greek islands, places to call at but not to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/women-are-like-those-blinkin-little-greek-islands-places-to-call-at/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) [Explore all 8 Stacy Aumonier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) ## 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": "Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most embarrassing business.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stacy Aumonier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a-preface-a-most-embarrassing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bernard shaw" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a-preface-a-most-embarrassing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/stacy-aumonier-46002_bernard-shaw_unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a_1002232.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unless you are a Bernard Shaw you find a preface a most embarrassing business.” — Stacy Aumonier", "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": "Stacy Aumonier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Unless you are a Bernard Shaw...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a-preface-a-most-embarrassing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/unless-you-are-a-bernard-shaw-you-find-a-preface-a-most-embarrassing/#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 } } ] } ```