What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not

Hear, O lovers of wisdom, the immortal words of George Bernard Shaw, who declared: “What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” In this utterance lies a vision of education not as burden but as awakening, not as force but as flame. For Shaw, the true purpose of learning is not to drive children like beasts before the plow of rote memorization, but to ignite within them a hunger, a joy, a living desire to know.

The meaning of his words is as sharp as a sword: too often schools and teachers have chased the child with lessons, pressing them down with facts, demanding obedience to the structure of knowledge rather than cultivating love for its essence. But this is a false way. To burden the young with the weight of knowledge before they have tasted its sweetness is to turn education into drudgery, and the spirit into resistance. True education is not compulsion, but desire—it is the child who must chase wisdom, not wisdom that must be forced upon the child.

Consider the tale of Socrates, who taught not by pouring facts into the minds of his students, but by asking questions that stirred their curiosity. He did not drive them with a whip of answers; he awakened in them the pursuit of truth. His method embodied Shaw’s wisdom: the child (or student) must be the seeker, the chaser of knowledge, discovering with delight the treasures that lie ahead. When knowledge is pursued freely, it becomes joy; when imposed without desire, it becomes chains.

History also offers us the example of Galileo Galilei. As a youth, his curiosity was insatiable—he gazed at the stars, questioned the earth, and refused to accept old answers that did not satisfy reason. It was not knowledge pressing upon him, but his own mind leaping toward knowledge. And though authorities tried to silence him, his pursuit carried him beyond the limits of his age, reshaping our understanding of the universe. This is the power Shaw describes: knowledge pursued, not imposed.

The wisdom of this quote is also a warning. When schools value grades over curiosity, when they treat students as vessels to be filled rather than flames to be kindled, they produce cleverness without wisdom, and compliance without passion. They forget that the aim is not to drive knowledge into the child, but to set the child chasing knowledge like a pilgrim chasing light. This is the difference between education that liberates and education that enslaves.

The lesson, O listener, is as timeless as the dawn: if you are a teacher, let your task be not to press but to awaken, not to force but to inspire. If you are a parent, nurture the questions of your children; do not stifle them. If you are a student, cultivate wonder, let your curiosity lead you farther than any syllabus, and let your hunger for truth be your greatest teacher. For once a child learns to love the chase of knowledge, he or she will never cease to grow.

Practical action lies before you: make space for curiosity, for questions, for exploration. Celebrate not only correct answers but also daring attempts to understand. Provide books, stories, mentors, and experiences that awaken desire. And above all, never confuse obedience with learning—seek always to stir the fire that causes the child to run joyfully after truth.

Thus remember George Bernard Shaw’s words: the aim of education is not to bind the child with chains of knowledge, but to free the child to pursue knowledge as one pursues treasure. For it is only when knowledge is chased with love that it becomes wisdom, and only then does learning endure beyond the classroom into the very fabric of life.