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The first prison I ever saw had inscribed on it cease to do evil: learn to do well; but as the inscription was on the outside, the prisoners could not read it.
— George Bernard Shaw
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The first prison I ever saw had inscribed on it cease to do evil: learn to do well; but as the inscription was on the outside, the prisoners could not read it." in the context of "Preface to English Prisons Under Local Government by Sydney and Beatrice Webb (1922)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "George Bernard Shaw" (Quotes, 1940s and later)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist with a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory. He wrote more than sixty plays, including such works as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.
About George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist with a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory. He wrote more than sixty plays, including such works as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.
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