Day with a Difference - July 14, 2006

Today's Inspirational Quote:

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. - Seneca

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Irish dramatist, literary critic, a socialist spokesman, and a leading figure in the 20th century theater. Shaw was a freethinker, defender of women's rights, and advocate of equality of income. In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Shaw accepted the honour but refused the money.

A man of many causes, Shaw supported abolition of private property, radical change in the voting system, campaigned for the simplification of spelling, and the reform of the English alphabet. As a public speaker, Shaw gained the status of one of the most sought-after orators in England. In 1895 Shaw became a drama critic for the Saturday Review. Articles written for the paper were later collected in OUR THEATRES IN THE NINETIES (1932). Music, art, and drama criticism Shaw wrote for Dramatic Review (1885-86), Our Corner (1885-86), The Pall Mall Gazette (1885-88), The World (1886-94), and The Star (1888-90) as 'Corno bi Basetto'.

His music criticism were collected in SHAW'S MUSIC (1981). After lacing a shoe too tightly, an operation was performed on his foot for necrosis; Shaw was unable to put his foot on the ground for eighteen months. During this period he wrote CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1901) and THE PERFECT WAGNERITE (1898). "...I have no reason to believe that they would have been a bit better if they had been written on two legs instead of one," he said in a letter to the playwright St John Ervine. His friend had his leg amputated during WWI after being hit by a shell splinters.

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A clean joke to sign off your week with laughter

George Bernard Shaw: FingerprintsOn his ninetieth birthday, George Bernard Shaw was visited by Scotland Yard's celebrated Detective Fabian. To mark the occasion, Fabian suggested that Shaw's fingerprints be recorded for posterity. Incredibly, so faint were Shaw's prints that no impression could be made. "Well," Shaw playfully declared, "had I known this sooner I should certainly have chosen another profession!"

Have a memorable day and a fun-filled weekend!
Priya