ReligionslidepollajaxPoetryG.K. Chesterton

12 Best Quotes by G.K. Chesterton

12 Best Quotes by G.K. Chesterton
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Author Kevin Belmonte's biography of G.K. Chesterton has brought a new light to the sometimes forgotten literary genius. A companion piece, The Quotable Chesterton helps to further reveal the style, wisdom and wit of the man who was credited with influencing such important intellectual figures as C.S. Lewis, George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Hemingway.

Kevin Belmonte has provided HuffPost Religion with a few of his very favorite Chesterton quotes. Which one is your favorite?

Run with the expressed permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Chesterton Quotes
All men are ordinary men ...(01 of12)
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All men are ordinary men; the extraordinary men are those who know it.
Cheese(02 of12)
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Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.
What a man can believe ...(03 of12)
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What a man can believe depends upon his philosophy, not upon the clock or the century.
Praised be God ...(04 of12)
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Praised be God for all sides of life, for friends, lovers, art, literature, knowledge, humour, politics, and for the little red cloud away there in the west.
Wit(05 of12)
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Wit is a fighting thing and a working thing. A man may enjoy humour all by himself; he may see a joke when no one else sees it; he may see the point and avoid it. But wit is a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it. All honest people saw the point of Mark Twain’s wit. Not a few dishonest people felt it.
The crowded stars ...(06 of12)
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The crowded stars seemed bent upon being understood.
America ...(07 of12)
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America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. That creed is set forth in the Declaration of Independence; perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is also great literature.
Every one on this earth should believe ...(08 of12)
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Every one on this earth should believe, amid whatever madness or moral failure, that his life and temperament have some object on the earth. Every one on the earth should believe that he has something to give to the world which cannot otherwise be given.
A philosopher ...(09 of12)
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A philosopher cannot talk about any single thing, down to a pumpkin, without showing whether he is wise or foolish; but he can easily talk about everything without anyone having any views about him, beyond gloomy suspicions.
Whether Tennyson was a great poet ...(10 of12)
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Whether Tennyson was a great poet I shall not discuss. I understand that one has to wait about eight hundred years before discussing that; and my only complaint against the printers of my articles is that they will not wait even for much shorter periods.
A gift universe ...(11 of12)
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You should not look a gift universe in the mouth.
Paradox simply means ...(12 of12)
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Paradox simply means a certain defiant joy which belongs to belief.

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