Life is not meant to be easy

Quotes can be infuriating at times. Someone comes up with a quote, and then you think - that’s not quite right. And then you wonder who said it originally and what is the exact wording.

That happened in our Bible Study group earlier this week. Someone said that “life wasn’t meant to be easy.” One of our participants M gave a much longer version none of us had previously heard, but it sounded great. I reached for an old version of the Dictionary of Quotations but it wasn’t there. So out came the laptop and I Googled the phrase.

The most common reference to this quote was to former Prime Minister of Australia. Malcolm Fraser who uttered the words, “Life wasn’t meant to be easy” in the Australian Parliament many years ago. This has been quoted on numerous occasions and in many different contexts since. Still - it was not the exact quote M had used.

I finally tracked down its source. Here is the full, and correct, quote:

“Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage: it can be delightful.”

George Bernard Shaw - English Playwright [sic], 1856-1950

Correction: As Hector has pointed out in the comments below this article, Shaw was, in fact, Irish. Most of his life he was based in England.

For more details check out:

• George Bernard Shaw - Wikipedia article.

So there you go.

Curiosity satisfied.