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Description
In this sparkling comedy, originally staged in 1905, Andrew Undershaft, a millionaire armaments dealer, loves money and despises poverty. His energetic daughter Barbara, however, is a devout major in the Salvation Army. She sees her father as just another soul to be saved. But when the... read more
Memorable Quotes
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“"Like all young men, you greatly exaggerate the difference between one young woman and another."”
Undershaft -
“"Peace shall not prevail save with a sword in her hand.””
Undershaft -
“The Code of the Armorer: “To sell arms to all men who offer an honest price for them, without respect of persons or principles: to aristocrat and republican, to Nihilist and Tsar, to Capitalist and Socialist, to Protestant and Catholic, to burglar and policeman, to black man, white man and yellow man, to all sorts and conditions, all nationalities, all faiths, all follies, all causes and all crimes.””
Undershaft -
“You don’t say! What! No capacity for business, no knowledge of law, no sympathy with art, no pretension to philosophy; only a simple knowledge of the secret that has puzzled all the philosophers, baffled all the lawyers, muddled all the men of business and ruined most of the artists: the secret of right and wrong. Why, man, you’re a genius, a mast of masters, a god! And at twenty-four, too!”
Undershaft -
“He knows nothing and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.”
Undershaft -
“The government of your country? I am the government of your country! Do you suppose that you and a half dozen amateurs like you, sitting in a row in that foolish gabble shop, can govern Undershaft Armaments! No my friend; you will do what pays us. You will make war when it suits me, and keep the peace when it doesn’t. You will find out that trade requires certain measures when we have decided on those measures. When I want anything to keep my dividends up, you will discover that my want is a national need. When other people want something that will lower my dividends, you will call out the police and the military. And in return you shall have the support and applause of my newspapers, and the delight of imagining that you are a great statesman. Government of your country! Be off with you, my boy, and play with your caucuses and leading articles and historic parties and great leaders and burning questions and the rest of your toys. I am going back to my counting-house and pay the piper and call the tune.”
Undershaft
First Sentence
It is after dinner in January 1906, in the library in Lady Britomart Undershaft's house in Wilton Crescent.
Table of Contents
Authors & Contributors
- George Bernard Shaw (Author)
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