Favorite chesterton quotes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carl
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
“If a man is truly and vitally converted, he has the peace of surrender without the shame of treason.”
 
My favorite is from “The Everlasting Man”:

Art is the signature of man.
 
If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.
 
“It is assumed that the sceptic has no bias; whereas he has a very obvious bias in favor of scepticism.”

“What I complain of is vague popular philosophy which supposes itself to be scientific when it’s really nothing but a sort of new religion and an uncommonly nasty one.”

“The soul does not die by sin but by impenitence.”
 
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.” Orthodoxy

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people. ILN
**
If a thing is worth doing, it s worth doing badly.
 
“You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution. – G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles”

“But there are some people, nevertheless – and I am one of them – who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy’s numbers, but still more important to know the enemy’s philosophy.” – G. K. Chesterton, Heretics

“Man’s primary purity and innocence may have dropped off with his tail, for all anybody knows.” All Things Considered
 
“What I complain of is vague popular philosophy which supposes itself to be scientific when it’s really nothing but a sort of new religion and an uncommonly nasty one.”

Now That is the most appropriate quote for 2004 America and Europe.

Thanks to Carl.
 
MICHAEL

Yes, I think G.K. was right in identifying the religious aspect of modern atheism. It (atheism) has taken on a messianic role nowadays, appointing itself to save the world from the oppression of offensive religious symbols. It never occurs to atheists that Christians are far more offended than atheists can be by the removal of their symbols from the public square. One wonders how much time might elapse from the removal of the symbols to the attempt to remove the religion that made those symbols. Such an attempt will, of course, be futile. As Voltaire pointed out, the atheist senators of ancient Rome succeeded in openly mocking the ancient gods. Little did they know that the unknown God was waiting in the wings to take center stage.

In Rome that God is still front and center.
 
40.png
Carl:
As Voltaire pointed out, the atheist senators of ancient Rome succeeded in openly mocking the ancient gods. Little did they know that the unknown God was waiting in the wings to take center stage.

In Rome that God is still front and center.
Click to expand...
Nicely put.

I am going to have to start new thread called ‘Favorite Carl Quotes.’

Thanks.

John
 
My favorite quote by “The Apostle of Common Sense” is a poem titled, “The Convert.”

THE CONVERT
G.K. Chesterton
Code: 
    After one moment when I bowed my head
    And the whole world turned over and came upright,
    And I came out where the old road shone white,
    I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
    Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
    Being not unlovable but strange and light;
    Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
    But softly, as men smile about the dead.

    The sages have a hundred maps to give
    That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
    They rattle reason out through many a sieve
    That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
    And all these things are less than dust to me
    Because my name is Lazarus and I live.

                                            --G. K. Chesterton
You can read more Chesterton at:

dur.ac.uk/martin.ward/gkc/books/

including the essay “Upon This Rock” which is a short apologetic of the Catholic faith.

dur.ac.uk/martin.ward/gkc/books/upon-this-rock.html
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top