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George Bernard Shaw was born 1856 in Dublin, won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1925, having written over 60 plays. He moved to London at 20, and struggled to establish himself, and embarked on a "rigorous process of self-education". He lived to a ripe old age of 94 https://t.co/75VNziXaSt https://t.co/1J1d7VSCAN
now reading V.D. Allison's recollections of Wright and Fleming. Apparently George Bernard Shaw would visit the lab and they'd discuss philosophy over tea Such relationships and connections are so underrepresented in mythologized stories of genius https://t.co/RfY68iGquz https://t.co/HT9lOAFwyK
Shaw would probably get cancelled for promoting eugenics, opposing vaccination, expressing admiration for Mussolini and Stalin... "continued to write prolifically until shortly before his death" "refused all state honours" https://t.co/v7gHIOzq7h
Like Montaigne did ~300 years before him, Shaw figured out that school is total bullshit https://t.co/esXURuv3IS https://t.co/7SFMalkh3Q
Shaw's description of his friendship with Sidney Webb reminds me of the Wright brothers https://t.co/pSo4jCyDUk https://t.co/QduMy4aCEy
as a teenager shaw wanted to be a painter, but abandoned that dream ghost-wrote a musical column in a satirical weekly spent most of his time in the British Museum Reading Room (library) worked for a while at Edison Telephone Co (as a clerk?) grew beard to hide smallpox scar
attempted writing a bunch of novels and plays, dismissed as grim couldn't find publishers started attending a bunch of meetings and societies was celibate until 29, which apparently is worth noting in his wikipedia page >_> https://t.co/zfLEo50j9n
he married Charlotte Payne Townshend at 41, and "it is generally believed" that they never had sex, idk why this is noteworthy but ok <_< https://t.co/sDBpRtvzXw
later in life they would travel the world together, which is quite sweet Shaw had some harsh words for America "that awful country, that uncivilized place", "unfit to govern itself ... illiberal, superstitious, crude, violent, anarchic and arbitrary" https://t.co/1ZK7z6lyUI
I have a vague suspicion that Shaw may have been a better correspondent than playwright or novelist he was a talented pamphleteer - a blogger, basically – inconsistent & controversial he wrote over 250,000 letters, of ~10% have survived he wrote to HG Wells and GK Chesterton https://t.co/9cEqB8ELhO
Shaw was a fan of Oscar Wilde, and attacked Shakespeare (and insisted on spelling his name as Shakespear 😂) https://t.co/MpLLuoK8qP
Shaw and Chesterton were described as "fighting friends", "beloved enemies", rarely in agreement yet maintaining goodwill. Plays have been written and staged about their rivalry, which was a gift to everyone in their scene https://t.co/J0GWGcDiNW https://t.co/ca9zOLDASz
one of my recurring talking points to anybody who's willing to listen: any small group of people loosely-but-truly aligned on something can create powerful vectors by producing public-facing work that's directed at each other talking about the creation of scenes, basically
“This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one... being a force of nature instead of complaining... the only tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes that you recognize to be base.” - George B. Shaw https://t.co/qcJNkgarm4
@m_ashcroft "filter:follows bernard shaw" QT-ing friends turns my note-taking from a solitary to a social activity eventually others in this vicinity will realize they can do the same, and it will kick this game into even higher gear
@m_ashcroft https://t.co/VrkO8limuk