Happy Birthday, George Bernard Shaw!

George Bernard Shaw, dramatist and ardent socialist, would be celebrating his birthday today, July 26th, except that he's no longer with us. That's probably for the best, because if he was still alive he'd be 152 years old. As it was he had a long, productive, and we'll assume, happy life, lasting 94 years which is longer than most of us can hope to live.

Nevertheless, we've decided to wish him a happy birthday anyway. Why? Is it because we're big fans of the musical My Fair Lady which was based on his play Pygmalion? Is it because one of us was once cast as Don Juan in a production of "Don Juan in Hell"? Is it because he is the only person ever to have won both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar? If you answered 'All of the Above', you would be correct.

To celebrate, we've designed four t-shirts featuring some of our favorite Shavian quotes. We thought these quotes would look good on the small set, too, so we've included sizes for kids, toddlers and infants. The bibs look particularly nice. Click on the picture to see a larger illustration. Click on the link to go directly to our Zazzle shop, Words Plus Paper. Happy birthday, George!

Addendum: we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to Mick Jagger.


See Shaw on Hatred Shirt

See Shaw on Cynicism Shirt

See Shaw on Intelligence Shirt

See Shaw on Art Shirt

Satirists on Politics

During this election season, it's always fun to take a step back and reflect on what politics means to us. We have lots of thoughts on the subject, but they seem to be alternately bitter or depressing. So rather than use our own, we decided to raid the minds of political satirists and put their quotes on t-shirts.

Okay, so Robert McCloskey, author of Make Way for Ducklings, doesn't qualify as a political satirist. Still, we love the quote by him, first seen on a poster featuring one Richard M. Nixon.

Ambrose Bierce and Will Rogers both wrote newspaper columns. Bierce was the more biting of the two, often stirring up controversy. This definition of politics comes from "The Devil's Dictionary".

Will Rogers is best known for saying "I never met a man I didn't like." Obviously, he never met Dick Cheney, but judging by our quote, he might have met George W. Bush.

Voltaire needs no introduction, but we'll give him one anyway. He was very outspoken in his day, and spent time in prison for it. His ideas influenced leaders of the American revolution and perhaps helped bring about the modern nation-state, so that years later Mark Twain could say "We have the best government that money can buy." We didn't put Twain's quote on a shirt because it was too depressing, and Voltaire's quote isn't exactly funny, but we think it's true. Vive le truth!

Click on the picture to see a larger version. Click on the link to go directly to our Zazzle shop.


See McCloskey Shirt

See Bierce Shirt

See Rogers Shirt

See Voltaire Shirt

Witty T-Shirts for Writers

Words Plus Paper is pleased to announce a new line of t-shirts and gifts featuring great writers, thinkers and artists from the past. We're starting with four designs but will be adding more continually so check back often.

These first three designs feature some of our all-time favorite authors: Oscar Wilde, Henry David Thoreau and George Orwell. If there's something you'd to like to see, let us know. As writers ourselves, we're well aware of the value of criticism. To see a larger image, just click on the pictures. To see the t-shirts, click on the link and it will take you to our Zazzle shop. Thanks for looking!

From the "Civil Disobedience" essay, here's the full quote: "The greater part of what my neighbors call good, I believe in my soul to be bad. And if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?"
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George Orwell, the pen name for Eric Arthur Blair, was a great novelist and thinker. Isn't it time you reread 1984? First published in 1949, it's still relevant after all these years.
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Oscar Wilde was perhaps one of the wittiest people who ever lived. He was part of the Aesthetic Movement whose members strove to turn their lives into art.
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