Health Quote by G.K. Chesterton
““Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland. He has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but (unlike the agnostic of to-day) free also to believe in them. He has always cared more for truth than for consistency. If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and contradiction along with them. His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that. Thus, he has always believed that there was such a thing as fate, but such a thing as free will also. Thus, he believes that children were indeed the kingdom of heaven, but nevertheless ought to be obedient to the kingdom of earth. He admired youth because it was young and age because it was not. It is exactly this balance of apparent contradictions that has been the whole buoyancy of the healthy man. The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand. The morbid logician seeks to make everything lucid, and succeeds in making everything mysterious. The mystic allows one thing to be mysterious, and everything else becomes lucid.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Paradoxes of Christianity” by G.K. Chesterton, 1909
Mysticism preserves mental health by embracing mystery and contradictions, allowing both faith and doubt, fate and free will, to coexist and illuminate understanding.
In simple terms: Mysticism keeps health by accepting mystery and contradictions.
Embrace mystery, tolerate paradoxes.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- personal growth
- spiritual practice
- creative problem solving
- conflict resolution
- education
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you hold contradictory ideas without confusion?
- When does mystery become an excuse for ignorance?
Mysticism can be misused to avoid critical thinking and rational analysis.