K. Chesterton
K. Chesterton
kings men ideas
Every sane man recognises that unlimited liberty is anarchy, or rather is nonentity. The civic idea of liberty is to give the citizen a province of liberty; a limitation within which a citizen is a king.
practice ideas evil
Liberty is the very last idea that seems to occur to anybody, in considering any political or social proposal. It is only necessary for anybody for any reason to allege any evidence of any evil in any human practice, for people instantly to suggest that the practice should be suppressed by the police.
loneliness eagles liberty
The eagle has no liberty; he only has loneliness.
sight bored quality
Monotony has nothing to do with a place; monotony, either in its sensation or its infliction, is simply the quality of a person. There are no dreary sights; there are only dreary sight seers.
thinking moments detachment
What are we going to do?" asked the Professor. "At this moment," said Syme, with a scientific detachment, "I think we are going to smash into a lamppost.
book men mad
It is quite easy to see why a legend is treated, and ought to be treated, more respectfully than a book of history. The legend is generally made by the majority of people in the village, who are sane. The book is generally written by the one man in the village who is mad.
reality things-in-life romance
Romance is the deepest thing in life. It is deeper than reality.
nice people progress
But whenever one meets modern thinkers (as one often does) progressing towards a madhouse, one always finds, on inquiry, that they have just had a splendid escape from another madhouse. Thus, hundreds of people become Socialists, not because they have tried Socialism and found it nice, but because they have tried Individualism and found it nasty.
reason realism lost
Realism is simply Romanticism that has lost its reason...that is its reason for existing.
hope children dragons
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.
men sublime legends
In all legends men have thought of women as sublime separately but horrible in a herd.
joy contentment cottages
We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return to at evening.
reformers
The Reformer is always right about what's wrong. However, he's often wrong about what is right.
lost-everything reason lost
A madman is not someone who has lost his reason but someone who has lost everything but his reason