It's an error, to be Shaw 1

I'm afraid your leader "We need those who can teach" (31 January) makes the usual error of misinterpreting George Bernard Shaw's maxim: "He who can does. He who cannot, teaches." This actually comes from advice to revolutionaries, and is an exhortation rather than a statement of fact. It is saying to them that if they cannot fight, perhaps if they are wounded, then they must at least teach others to fight: that is, teach others to do.

Ron Impey, Head of Quality, University Campus Suffolk