K. Chesterton
K. Chesterton
reputation virtue
Very few reputations are gained by unsullied virtue.
errors finals humans
It is human to err; and the only final and deadly error, among all our errors, is denying that we have ever erred.
kings son men
Aristocracy is an atmosphere; it is sometimes a healthy atmosphere; but it is very hard to say when it becomes an unhealthy atmosphere. You can prove that a man is not the son of a king, or that he is not the delegate of a definite number of people. But you cannot prove that a man is not a gentleman.
ivory white snow
Ivory may not be so white as snow, but the whole Arctic continent does not make ivory black.
legends chiefs century
It is the chief value of legend to mix up the centuries while preserving the sentiment.
mistake men inferiority
A man looking at a hippopotamus may sometimes be tempted to regard a hippopotamus as an enormous mistake; but he is also bound to confess that a fortunate inferiority prevents him personally from making such mistakes.
humble men proud
And it is always the humble man who talks too much; the proud man watches himself too closely.
politician
Every politician is emphatically a promising politician.
invisible intoxication champagne
Most Americans ... have a sort of permanent intoxication from within, a sort of invisible champagne.
drinking people driving
People that insist upon drinking and driving, are putting the quart before the hearse.
boat owe stormy terrible
We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.
kind conviction huge
There is, therefore, about all complete conviction a kind of huge helplessness.
scotland blood poison
For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the Calvinist.
sensational simplification
The simplification of anything is always sensational.