Doubtless you will have a following--such teachers have ever had those
who followed them--and yet time is always on the side of great
traditions. If enlightened thought has in any respect to change them, it
changes them reverently, and knowing what their worth has been. Sooner
or later all easy ignoring of them is condemned as sheer impertinence.
There is singularly little reason for being impressed by this hasty,
romantic, and loud-sounding crusade against Christian morality and its
Ideal.
In Mr. George Bernard Shaw we have a very different man. Nobody denies
Mr. Shaw's cleverness, least of all Mr. Shaw himself. He is depressingly
clever. He exhibits the spectacle of a man trying to address his
audience while standing on his head--and succeeding.
He has been singularly fortunate in his biographer, Mr. Chesterton, and
one of the things that make this biography such pleasing reading is the
personal element that runs through it all. The introduction is
characteristic and delightful: "Most people either say that they agree
with Bernard Shaw, or that they do not understand him. I am the only
person who understands him, and I do not agree with him.
Pages:
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294