It's George Bernard Shaw's (1856-1950) birthday. In addition to his plays (Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893), Arms and the Man (1894), The Devil's Disciple (1897), Caesar and Cleopatra (1899), Man and Superman (1905), Major Barbara (1905), Pygmalion (1913), Heartbreak House (1919), and Saint Joan (1923), among others), he was a prominent Fabian socialist.
The Fabian socialist movement favored gradual change - rather than revolutionary upheaval - and derived its name from the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (died 203 B.C.), nicknamed Cunctator - "the delayer" - who thwarted Hannibal's invasion of Italy during the 2nd Punic War by tactics of harassment and attrition, rather than direct confrontation. Sound familiar?
A personal favorite quote, in addition to the heading, above: "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
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