Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion
1903
Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion
1903
Bernard Shaw wrote this explosive companion piece to his play "Man and Superman," but it works perfectly well as a standalone provocation. Written from the persona of John Tanner, a self-appointed revolutionary who has "fallen in love with the whole world," the handbook is equal parts satirical manifesto and philosophical assault. Shaw uses Tanner to argue that every revolution in history has failed because it merely swaps one set of oppressors for another. The real revolution requires transforming human nature itself. He dissects the sacred cows of conventional society: property, marriage, government. He champions the "Superman" - not Nietzsche's aristocratic bully, but an evolved human who can transcend current limitations through the Life Force. The book is audacious, often infuriating, and stubbornly unafraid to ask whether humanity deserves to survive. A century later, it remains a bracing challenge to anyone who thinks radical change means changing the government rather than changing what it means to be human.
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“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.””
— Bernard Shaw
“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.””
— Bernard Shaw
“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.””
— Bernard Shaw
“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.””
— Bernard Shaw
“The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor: he took my measure anew every time he saw me, whilst all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.””
— Bernard Shaw
“Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men.””
— Bernard Shaw
“He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches. ””
— Bernard Shaw
“Your friends are all the dullest dogs I know. They are not beautiful: they are only decorated. They are not clean: they are only shaved and starched. They are not dignified: they are only fashionably dressed. They are not educated: they are only college passmen. They are not religious: they are only pewrenters. They are not moral: they are only conventional. They are not virtuous: they are only cowardly. They are not even vicious: they are only “frail.” They are not artistic: they are only lascivious. They are not prosperous: they are only rich. They are not loyal, they are only servile; not dutiful, only sheepish; not public spirited, only patriotic; not courageous, only quarrelsome; not determined, only obstinate; not masterful, only domineering; not self-controlled, only obtuse; not self-respecting, only vain; not kind, only sentimental; not social, only gregarious; not considerate, only polite; not intelligent, only opinionated; not progressive, only factious; not imaginative, only superstitious; not just, only vindictive; not generous, only propitiatory; not disciplined, only cowed; and not truthful at all: liars every one of them, to the very backbone of their souls.””
— Bernard Shaw
“We cut the throat of a calf and hang it up by the heels to bleed to death so that our veal cutlet may be white; we nail geese to a board and cram them with food because we like the taste of liver disease; we tear birds to pieces to decorate our women's hats; we mutilate domestic animals for no reason at all except to follow an instinctively cruel fashion; and we connive at the most abominable tortures in the hope of discovering some magical cure for our own diseases by them.””
— Bernard Shaw
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<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afd"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion by Bernard Shaw free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afd)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afd][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion by Bernard Shaw free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afdCite this book
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Shaw, Bernard. Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion. Lex, lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afd.Shaw, B. (1903). Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afdShaw, Bernard. Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/revolutionist-s-handbook-and-pocket-companion-12a87d59-9f19-4ef5-b271-97be11c81afd.











