K. Chesterton
K. Chesterton
wise fall men
THERE are no wise few; for in all men rages the folly of the Fall. Take your strongest, happiest, handsomest, best born, best bred, best instructed men on earth and give them special power for half an hour and because they are men they will begin to [perform] badly ...
gratitude men joyful
Gratitude produced the most purely joyful moments that have been known to man.
book sentences essays
I am a bad reporter because everything seems to me worth reporting; and a bad reviewer because every sentence in every book suggests a separate essay.
religious literature world
If, therefore, nonsense is really to be the literature of the future, it must have its own version of the Cosmos to offer; the world must not only be tragic, romantic, and religious, it must be nonsensical also.
years doctrine sin
Original sin is the only doctrine that's been empirically validated by 2,000 years of human history.
long metaphysical damn
The long words are not the hard words, it is the short words that are hard. There is much more metaphysical subtlety in the word "damn" than in the word "degeneration."
christian buddhist sorry
The Christian pities men because they are dying, and the Buddhist pities them because they are living. The Christian is sorry for what damages the life of a man; but the Buddhist is sorry for him because he is alive.
weed gratitude appreciation
The fact is that purification and austerity are even more necessary for the appreciation of life and laughter than for anything else. To let no bird fly past unnoticed, to spell the stones and weeds, to have the mind a storehouse of sunset, requires a discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude.
funny real humorous
There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.
pride would-be preaching
If I had only one sermon to preach it would be a sermon against pride.
kids intellectual literature
Cruelty is, perhaps, the worst kid of sin. Intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty.
religion tests childlike-faith
It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.
mean class giving
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.
sensational simplification
The simplification of anything is always sensational.