Quotes from G. K. Chesterton: who is the author of the Father Brown stories, many essays and poems
70G.K. Chesterton Quotes
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English Journalist, critic, essayist, author and Poet.
I have been a fan of Chesterton since college days. He wrote the classic series o short story mysteries about Father Brown, the clerical detective. He also had observations on Philosophy and Theology. I especially liked his unique view of life and society which is epitomized in his famous paradoxes, seeming contradictions. The following quotations are a sampling of his view.
Love and Truth
“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”
“Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.”
GK Chesterton quotes
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English Journalist, critic, essayist, author and Poet.
I have been a fan of Chesterton since college days. He wrote the classic series o short story mysteries about Father Brown, the clerical detective. He also had observations on Philosophy and Theology. I especially liked his unique view of life and society which is epitomized in his famous paradoxes, seeming contradictions. The following quotations are a sampling of his view.
Love and Truth
“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”
“Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.”
In other words love has to be unconditional to be real.
“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem.”
I see the truth of this in politicians rushing bills through without first examining what the problem is that they want to solve. Have the ever identified in our health care system what actually needs fixing? It seems that they actually ignore those things.
- G.K Chesterton views America
Chesterton in America a review of - G.K. Chesterton: roots of the clerical detecti...
Public domain I was a fan of Alec Guinness when his comedy films were being shown and one off these was The Detective based on G.K. Chestertons father Brown stories. This was my introduction to both... - G.K Chesterton views America
Chesterton in America a review of
On Education
“Education is the period during which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do not want to know.”
“The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things.”
“The purpose of Compulsory Education is to deprive the common people of their commonsense.”
“When learned men begin to use their reason, then I generally discover that they haven’t got any
“Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously”
“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”
Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.”
I like the one about “taking educated people seriously” since in politics we have so many “smart, educated people” that we are supposed to take uncritically, even if they are total idiots.
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Fables
“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
“Fable is more historical than fact, because fact tells us about one man and fable tells us about a million men.”
A certain element in our society think that children should no read “Harry Potter” or watch cartoons or other things that are fun bcause it is “not reality.” I agree with Chesterton.
“The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”
“Marriage is an adventure, like going to war.”
“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”
Religion
“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”
“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
“It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.”
“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.”
“Never invoke the gods unless you really want them to appear. It annoys them very much.”
I think these religious views punch a hole in some of the sanctimonious extremes one runs across even today.
Literature
“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”
“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”
“Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers is another.”
History
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live
Or the age in which they are living.”
“You shouldn’t take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”
Metaphorically the last statement would seem to apply to things like closing Gitmo and other policies rushed into by the administration..
If you like these quotes and observation I would appreciate your vote and comment.
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Hi Peggy W
Thanks for the ratings and comments. Chesterton was always challenging conventional wisdom. I like the way he always found the contradictions in things.
That he did! Chesterton makes one think about things which was the point of his writings, I am sure.
Peggy W
Thankds for the comment. I do think certain writers such as Chesterton and Lewis Carrol had a certain way they looked at life, it might be a sense of humor.
I like his point about journalism being fiction. If he felt that way in his day, I wonder what he'd think of the truth-bending, editorialized version of the news we have today.
Being a journalist himself I am sure he would have some ironic remarks about it. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Thanks for this article on G. K. Chesterton, I enjoyed reading it.
Glad you enjoyed it. thank you for commenting
I've voted this up, and also beautiful. I am not familiar with the writing of Chesterton, and I can see from this hub that I am missing out.
My favourite quote above is the one about having a solution without identifying the problem. It is so true that to really make something better you have to work out exactly what is wrong with it - and that is easier said than done.
My experience of politicians here is that they all think in the short term (like to the next election) and real life problems are generally long term.
T^hanks for the vote and the comment.He covered q rqnge of subjects. I was especially interested in his comments on American society. I think he said he stayed at a Biltmore Hotel and wondered if they shouldn't have built less.
Hey there,
Im really enjoying these quotes, do you know what book the first quote on history comes from?
Thanks for reading and commenting.the reference I found was "on St George Revivified."
Hi he was great poet no doubt. Our English teacher was his fan and would usually narrate couple of his poems every now and then. I didnt know he made quotes too. thanks for sharing
Chesterton was a journalist,essayist,mystery story writer and,as you note, a poet. He was also something of a Theologian. I think now he is best known as the authro of the Father Brown series of mystery stories.
Thanks for reading this hub and commenting.
I voted up. Good read.
Thanks for the comment.
Peggy W Level 8 Commenter 18 months ago
I voted funny for this: "The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."
I voted useful for this: “You shouldn’t take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”
And I voted up in general. I enjoyed how you extrapolated some of these quotes and applied them to politics. Funny in a way if it was not also sad. Enough said!
G.K. Chesterton certainly must have been an interesting man!