“Of a sane man there is only one safe definition. He is the man who can have tragedy in his heart and… — G.K. Chesterton Humor Copy Share Image
“I have a suspicion that you are all mad,’ said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; ‘but God forbid that madness should in any… — G.K. Chesterton Friendship Copy Share Image
“central Christian theology (sufficiently summarized in the Apostles' Creed) is the best root of energy and sound ethics.” — G.K. Chesterton Christian theology Copy Share Image
“In the best Utopia, I must be prepared for the moral fall of any man in any position at any moment; especially… — G.K. Chesterton Character Copy Share Image
“He declares his privacy is temporary and justified, and promises to explain before the wedding. That is all that anyone knows for… — G.K. Chesterton Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
“Then the small man suddenly ran after them and said: "I want to get my haircut. I say, do you know a… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“No man should leave in the universe anything of which he is afraid...who would condescend to strike down the mere things that… — G.K. Chesterton Fear Copy Share Image
“Through all this ordeal his root horror had been isolation, and there are no words to express the abyss between isolation and… — G.K. Chesterton Camaraderie Copy Share Image
“Where does a wise man hide a pebble?" And the tall man answered in a low voice: "On the beach." The small… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“For with any recovery from morbidity there must go a certain healthy humiliation. There comes a certain point in such conditions when… — G.K. Chesterton Crisis Copy Share Image
“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to… — G.K. Chesterton Contradiction Copy Share Image
“For instance, the writer of whom I speak indulges in the millionth mechanical repetition of the charge of mechanical repetition. He says… — G.K. Chesterton Prayer Copy Share Image
“The vision which has been so faintly suggested in these pages has never been confined to monks or even to friars. It… — G.K. Chesterton Dreams Copy Share Image
“Rossetti makes the remark somewhere, bitterly but with great truth, that the worst moment for the atheist is when he is really… — G.K. Chesterton Atheist Copy Share Image
“Well, you have said that you were quite certain I was not a serious anarchist. Does this place strike you as being… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“He walked on the Embankment once under a dark red sunset. The red river reflected the red sky, and they both reflected… — G.K. Chesterton Sunsets Copy Share Image
“A pickpocket is obviously a champion of private enterprise. But it would perhaps be an exaggeration to say that a pickpocket is… — G.K. Chesterton Business Copy Share Image
“They are constantly colonists and emigrants ; they have the name of being at home in every country. But they are in… — G.K. Chesterton Books Copy Share Image
“The materialist philosophy (whether true or not) is certainly much more limiting than any religion. In one sense, of course, all intelligent… — G.K. Chesterton Christian atheist Copy Share Image
“There again," said Syme irritably, "what is there poetical about being in revolt? You might as well say that it is poetical… — G.K. Chesterton Poetical Copy Share Image
“A man who is perpetually thinking of whether this race or that race is strong, of whether this cause or that cause… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“But of all the instances of error arising from this physical fancy, the worst is that we have before us: the habit… — G.K. Chesterton Habits Copy Share Image
“Now in history there is no Revolution that is not a Restoration. Among the many things that leave me doubtful about the… — G.K. Chesterton Habits Copy Share Image
“Odd, isn't it," he said, "that a thief and a vagabond should repent, when so many who are rich and secure remain… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“We all disapprove of prostitution; but we do not all approve of purity. The only way to discuss the social evil is… — G.K. Chesterton Copy Share Image
“A man must love a thing very much if he practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practice… — G.K. Chesterton Amateurs Copy Share Image
“Reason is always reasonable, even in the last limbo, in the lost borderland of all things. I know that people charge the… — G.K. Chesterton Nature Copy Share Image
“The transition from the good man to the saint is a sort of revolution; by which one for whom all things illustrate… — G.K. Chesterton Good man Copy Share Image
“it will be generally found that the popular joke is not true to the letter, but is true to the spirit. The… — G.K. Chesterton Comedy Copy Share Image
“Job was comfortless before the speech of Jehovah and is comforted after it. He has been told nothing, but he feels the… — G.K. Chesterton Communication Copy Share Image
“I am told that the Japanese method of wrestling consists not of suddenly pressing, but of suddenly giving way. This is one… — G.K. Chesterton Japanese 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 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 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
“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
“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
“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 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
“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
“Genuine controversy, fair cut and thrust before a common audience, has become in our special epoch very rare. For the sincere controversialist… — G.K. Chesterton Good listener Copy Share Image
