Gilbert K. Chesterton
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG, better known as G. K. Chesterton, was an English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, lay theologian, biographer, and literary and art critic. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox." Time magazine has observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth29 May 1874
dance work advice
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
humility hard-work men
What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which made him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.
fall men work-out
Men can construct a science with very few instruments, or with very plain instruments; but no one on earth could construct a science with unreliable instruments. A man might work out the whole of mathematics with a handful of pebbles, but not with a handful of clay which was always falling apart into new fragments, and falling together into new combinations. A man might measure heaven and earth with a reed, but not with a growing reed.
action believe falls however men unless
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
catching discovered miss train
The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.
christian difficult found ideal left tried
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.
brute mere sort
The mere brute pleasure of reading the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.
man
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.
funny food sarcasm
The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.
art sunset bad-ass
All architecture is great architecture after sunset; perhaps architecture is really a nocturnal art, like the art of fireworks.
two people world
There are two kinds of people in the world, the conscious dogmatists and the unconscious dogmatists. I have always found myself that the unconscious dogmatists were by far the most dogmatic.
clouds tree secret
Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? If we could only get round in front--
done danger ifs
If you convey to a woman that something ought to be done, there is always a dreadful danger that she will suddenly do it.
men want behinds
If you know what a man's doing, get in front of him; but if you want to guess what he's doing keep behind him.