“No,” said the other priest; “reason is always reasonable, even in the last limbo, in the lost borderland of things. I know… — G.K. Chesterton Reason Copy Share Image
“There are degrees of seriousness," replied Syme. "I have never doubted that you were perfectly sincere in this sense, that you thought… — G.K. Chesterton Seriousness Copy Share Image
“I have never been to St. John's Wood. I dare not. I should be afraid of the innumerable night of fir trees,… — G.K. Chesterton Afraid Copy Share Image
“Thus, all sane moralists admit that one may sometimes tell a lie; but no sane moralist would approve of telling a little… — G.K. Chesterton Moralist Copy Share Image
“When everything about a people is for the time growing weak and ineffective, it begins to talk about efficiency. So it is… — G.K. Chesterton Biology Copy Share Image
“I have been asked to explain what I meant by saying that "Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity." I have… — G.K. Chesterton Books Copy Share Image
“Charity means pardoning what is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all. Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it… — G.K. Chesterton Faith Copy Share Image
“I have wondered,' said the Marquis, taking a great bite out of a slice of bread and jam, 'whether it wouldn't be… — G.K. Chesterton Knife Copy Share Image
“Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our… — G.K. Chesterton Culture Copy Share Image
“Man, by a blind instinct, knew that if once things were wildly questioned, reason could be questioned first. The authority of priests… — G.K. Chesterton Authority Copy Share Image
“I cannot count the pebbles in the brook. Well hath He spoken: "Swear not by thy head. Thou knowest not the hairs,"… — G.K. Chesterton Thou Copy Share Image
“The curse that came before history has laid on us all a tendency to be weary of wonders. If we saw the… — G.K. Chesterton Darkness Copy Share Image
“This very pride in keeping his word was that he was keeping it to miscreants. It was his last triumph over these… — G.K. Chesterton Dark room Copy Share Image
“The man who said, "Blessed is he that expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed," put the eulogy quite inadequately and… — G.K. Chesterton Eulogy Copy Share Image
“I do not know by what extraordinary mental accident modern writers so constantly connect the idea of progress with the idea of… — G.K. Chesterton Every man Copy Share Image
“The truth is, I think, that they are caught in a sort of argument in a circle. Their vague philosophy says to… — G.K. Chesterton Man and woman Copy Share Image
“There are two ways of renouncing the devil,” he said; “and the difference is perhaps the deepest chasm in modern religion. One… — G.K. Chesterton Religion Copy Share Image
“There is only one thing that can never go past a certain point in its alliance with oppression--and that is orthodoxy. I… — G.K. Chesterton Orthodoxy Copy Share Image
“But if he has lost the sane vision, he can only get it back by something very like a mad vision; that… — G.K. Chesterton Dreams Copy Share Image
“But as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest." "What?" asked the… — G.K. Chesterton Matter of fact Copy Share Image
“The word 'heresy' not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The word 'orthodoxy' not only… — G.K. Chesterton Heresy Copy Share Image
“But there is one thing that is infinitely more absurd and unpractical than burning a man for his philosophy. This is the… — G.K. Chesterton Philosophy Copy Share Image
“The perfect happiness of men on the earth (if it ever comes) will not be a flat and solid thing, like the… — G.K. Chesterton Happiness Copy Share Image
“We shall have gone deeper than the deeps of heaven and grown older than the oldest angels before we feel, even in… — G.K. Chesterton God Copy Share Image
“Oh, what's the good of talking about men?" cried Mary impatiently; "why, one might as well be a lady novelist or some… — G.K. Chesterton Talking Copy Share Image
“People, if you have any prayers, Say prayers for me: And lay me under a Christian stone In that lost land I… — G.K. Chesterton Prayer Copy Share Image
“No,' said Gould, with an unusual and convincing gravity; 'I do not believe that being perfectly good in all respects would make… — G.K. Chesterton Goodness Copy Share Image
“In other words, we may, by fixing our attention almost fiercely on the facts actually before us, force them to turn into… — G.K. Chesterton Adventure Copy Share Image
“Only the Christian Church can offer any rational objection to a complete confidence in the rich. For she has maintained from the… — G.K. Chesterton Christian church Copy Share Image
“In short, the democratic faith is this: that the most terribly important things must be left to ordinary men themselves—the mating of… — G.K. Chesterton Democratic Copy Share Image
“Before we congratulate ourselves upon the absence of certain faults from our nation or society, we ought to ask ourselves why it… — G.K. Chesterton Absent Fault Copy Share Image
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses… — G.K. Chesterton Catholic Copy Share Image
“What we need is not the cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily… — G.K. Chesterton Anger Copy Share Image
“To give up one's love for one's country is very great. But to give up one's hate for one's country, this may… — G.K. Chesterton Hate Copy Share Image
“But in practice the great difference between the medieval ethics and ours is that ours concentrate attention on the sins which are… — G.K. Chesterton Philosophy Copy Share Image
“A man is partially convinced because he has found this or that proof of the thing, and he can expound it. But… — G.K. Chesterton Epistemology Copy Share Image
“A man who thinks a great deal about himself will try to be many-sided, attempt a theatrical excellence at all points, will… — G.K. Chesterton Man Thinks Copy Share Image
“The modern mind is hard to please; and it generally calls the way of Godfrey ferocious and the way of Francis fanatical.… — G.K. Chesterton Crusades Copy Share Image
“No gleam of reason, no momentary return to first principles, no abstract asking of any obvious question, can interrupt this mad and… — G.K. Chesterton Revolution Copy Share Image
“I wish the world had been made in six days, and knocked to pieces again in six more. And I wish I… — G.K. Chesterton Days Copy Share Image
