--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stated baldly, charity certainly means…" description: "\"Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two things–pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.\" — Gilbert K. Chesterton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_charity_stated-baldly-charity-certainly-means-on_1941658.png" --- # Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two… ![“Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two things–pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_charity_stated-baldly-charity-certainly-means-on_1941658.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_charity_stated-baldly-charity-certainly-means-on_1941658.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_charity_stated-baldly-charity-certainly-means-on_1941658.png) > “Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two things–pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Charity is either forgiving grave wrongs or loving those deemed unlovable. **In simple terms:** Charity means forgiving or loving the unlovable. Key Takeaway Practice unconditional compassion. Themes compassion forgiveness ethics Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - prisoner rehabilitation - social work - conflict resolution - family estrangement Key Concepts moral philosophy humanism Questions to Reflect On - Can you love someone you deem unlovable? - What does forgiveness look like for unforgivable acts? A Different Perspective True compassion may be limited by personal safety or boundaries. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Charity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity/) [Charity Certainly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity-certainly-2765236/) [Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Means Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means-things-686678/) [Pardoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardoning-343934/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Things Pardoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-pardoning-3098130/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Two things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-things/) [Unlovable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlovable/) ## Related quotes > [“Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent-de-paul/charity-is-certainly-greater-than-any-rule-moreover-all-rules-must/) [St. Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent-de-paul/) > [Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/love-means-to-love-that-which-is-unlovable-or-it-is-no-virtue-at-all/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/hope-means-hoping-when-everything-seems-hopeless/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith means believing the unbelievable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-means-believing-the-unbelievable/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Beautiful leaving (hajr), is to leave without harming, beautiful pardoning is to pardon without rebuking, and beautiful patience is to be patient without complaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/beautiful-leaving-hajr-is-to-leave-without-harming-beautiful/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/pardoning-the-bad-is-injuring-the-good/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I think President Trump could pardon anyone he wanted and have it be an effective pardon. I think there would be a big price…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-painter/i-think-president-trump-could-pardon-anyone-he-wanted-and-have-it-be/) [Richard Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-painter/) > [Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/mercy-but-murders-pardoning-those-that-kill/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I hate puns. And, I'm tired of pardoning them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lowry/i-hate-puns-and-i-m-tired-of-pardoning-them/) [Mark Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lowry/) > [Clinton's pardoning of Marc Rich was off-the-wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morley-safer/clinton-s-pardoning-of-marc-rich-was-off-the-wall/) [Morley Safer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morley-safer/) > [Beautiful leaving , is to leave without harming, beautiful pardoning is to pardon without rebuking, and beautiful patience is tobe patient without complaining..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/beautiful-leaving-is-to-leave-without-harming-beautiful-pardoning-is/) [Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/) > [It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-in-pardoning-that-we-are-pardoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pardoning Snowden would be a powerful way for the president to acknowledge that the government did wrong, kept us in the dark, acted unconstitutionally.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-romero/pardoning-snowden-would-be-a-powerful-way-for-the-president-to/) [Anthony Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-romero/) > [“Mercy but murders pardoning those who kill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/mercy-but-murders-pardoning-those-who-kill/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It may well be that Allah will pardon them. Allah is Ever-Pardoning, Ever-Forgiving. (Surat An-Nisa, 99)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-may-well-be-that-allah-will-pardon-them-allah-is-ever-pardoning/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Charity quotes > [The greatest charity you can contribute to is yourself. Instead of spending a dollar to help feed hungry children, why not spend that dollar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-greatest-charity-you-can-contribute-to-is-yourself-instead-of/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I would have none of that rigid circumspect charity which is never done without scrutiny, and which always mistrusts the truth of the necessities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-massillon/i-would-have-none-of-that-rigid-circumspect-charity-which-is-never/) [Jean Baptiste Massillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-massillon/) > [I'm publicist, patron of nine charities, creative director, food consultant, recipe developer - and mum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-monroe/i-m-publicist-patron-of-nine-charities-creative-director-food/) [Jack Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-monroe/) > [The next time you're looking at a charity, don't ask about the rate of their overhead. Ask about the scale of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-next-time-you-re-looking-at-a-charity-don-t-ask-about-the-rate-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/i-shall-pray-god-to-send-charity-into-this-hideous-world-and-sympathy/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Considering community support and cost-benefit analysis, I have supported earmarks for projects of high public purpose involving such areas as higher education, alternative energy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-fortenberry/considering-community-support-and-cost-benefit-analysis-i-have/) [Jeff Fortenberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-fortenberry/) > [It's always great to be able to give back to the community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-vucevic/it-s-always-great-to-be-able-to-give-back-to-the-community/) [Nikola Vucevic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-vucevic/) > [Slander is a poison which kills charity, both in the slanderer and the one who listens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/slander-is-a-poison-which-kills-charity-both-in-the-slanderer-and-the/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [I like to give back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-chan/i-like-to-give-back/) [Jackie Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-chan/) > [We have to restore power to the family, to the neighborhood, and the community with a non-market principle, a principle of equality, of charity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/we-have-to-restore-power-to-the-family-to-the-neighborhood-and-the/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [“It takes a female to have a baby, It takes a woman to raise a child, It takes a mother to raise them correctly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/it-takes-a-female-to-have-a-baby-it-takes-a-woman-to-raise-a-child-it/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I own about 300 pairs of shoes. When I start to go over 300, I have mini-sales from my closet and give the money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/i-own-about-300-pairs-of-shoes-when-i-start-to-go-over-300-i-have/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) [Browse all 2,477 Charity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two things–pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gilbert K. 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