The vulgar man is always the most distinguished, for the very desire to be distinguished is vulgar. Gilbert K. Chesterton More Quotes by Gilbert K. Chesterton More Quotes From Gilbert K. Chesterton In a world flagrant with the failures of civilization, what is there particularly immortal about our own? Gilbert K. Chesterton failurecivilizationworld For us who live in cities Nature is not natural. Nature is supernatural. Just as monks watched and strove to get a glimpse of heaven, so we watch and strive to get a glimpse of earth. It is as if men had cake and wine every day but were sometimes allowed common bread. Gilbert K. Chesterton winenaturemen And it did for one wild moment cross my mind that, perhaps, those might not be the very best judges of the relation of religion to happiness who, by their own account, had neither one nor the other. Gilbert K. Chesterton judgingmindmight Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags. Gilbert K. Chesterton ragschristianityhot A fairly clear line separated advertisement from art. ... The first effect of the triumph of the capitalist (if we allow him to triumph) will be that that line of demarcation will entirely disappear. There will be no art that might not just as well be advertisement. Gilbert K. Chesterton triumphlinesart The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them. Gilbert K. Chesterton gratitudeappreciationlove "Are you a devil?" "I am a man," answered Father Brown gravely; "and therefore have all devils in my heart." Gilbert K. Chesterton heartmenfather In matters of truth the fact that you don't want to publish something is, nine times out of ten, a proof that you ought to publish it. Gilbert K. Chesterton matterwantwriting Passion makes every detail important. Gilbert K. Chesterton detailspassionimportant The center of every man's existence is a dream. Gilbert K. Chesterton anticipationdreammen Soldiers have many faults, but they have one redeeming merit; they are never worshippers of force. Soldiers more than any other men are taught severely and systematically that might is not right. The fact is obvious. The might is in the hundred men who obey. The right (or what is held to be right) is in the one man who commands them. Gilbert K. Chesterton armymilitarymen The average man votes below himself; he votes with half a mind or a hundredth part of one. A man ought to vote with the whole of himself, as he worships or gets married. A man ought to vote with his head and heart, his soul and stomach, his eye for faces and his ear for music; also (when sufficiently provoked) with his hands and feet. If he has ever seen a fine sunset, the crimson color of it should creep into his vote. The question is not so much whether only a minority of the electorate votes. The point is that only a minority of the voter votes. Gilbert K. Chesterton sunseteyeheart The modern world is a crowd of very rapid racing cars all brought to a standstill and stuck in a block of traffic. Gilbert K. Chesterton carblockracing I don't deny," he said, "that there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say that at certain strange epochs it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet. Gilbert K. Chesterton strangeone-daymen Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy. It is when for some reason or other good things in a society no longer work that the society begins to decline; when its food does not feed, when its cures do not cure, when its blessings refuse to bless. Gilbert K. Chesterton tiredblessinglying We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them. Gilbert K. Chesterton thank-goddrinkingbeer The timidity of the child or the savage is entirely reasonable; they are alarmed at this world, because this world is a very alarming place. They dislike being alone because it is verily and indeed an awful idea to be alone. Barbarians fear the unknown for the same reason that Agnostics worship it - because it is a fact. Gilbert K. Chesterton fearchildrenideas Dogma is actually the only thing that cannot be separated from education. It IS education. A teacher who is not dogmatic is simply a teacher who is not teaching. There are no uneducated people; only most people are educated wrong. The true task of culture today is not a task of expansion, but of selection-and-rejection. The educationist must find a creed and teach it. Gilbert K. Chesterton educationalteachingteacher Nobody understands the nature of the Church, or the ringing note of the creed descending from antiquity, who does not realize that the whole world once very nearly died of broadmindedness and the brotherhood of all religions. Gilbert K. Chesterton brotherhoodchurchdoe Any one thinking of the Holy Child as born in December would mean by it exactly what we mean by it; that Christ is not merely a summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate. Gilbert K. Chesterton christmassummerchildren
