-
"If people must not be taught religion, they might be taught reason, philosophy. If the State must not teach them to pray it might teach them to think. And when I say that children should be taught to think I do not mean (like many moderns) that they should be taught to doubt; for the two processes are not only not the same, but are in many ways opposite. To doubt is only to destroy; to think is to create."
– G.K. Chesterton
Quoted by Dale Ahlquist in his book The Complete Thinker.
-
"The refusal of God to explain His design is itself a burning hint of His design. The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his essay "The Book of Job." Collected in the book In Defense of Sanity.
-
"We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right. What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong. In these current fashions it is not really a question of the religion allowing us liberty; but (at the best) of the liberty of allowing us a religion. These people merely take the modern mood, with much in it that is amiable and much that is anarchical and much that is merely dull and obvious, and then require any creed to be cut down to fit that mood. But the mood would exist even without the creed. They say they want a religion to be practical, when they would be practical without any religion. They say they want a religion acceptable to science, when they would accept the science even if they did not accept the religion. They say they want a religion like this because they are like this already. They say they want it, when they mean that they could do without it."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book The Catholic Church and Conversion.
-
"Some people have an instinctive itch of irritation against the word 'authority.' Either they suppose that authority is a pompous name for mere bullying, or else, at the best, they think that mere bullying is an excess of authority. Tyranny is the opposite of authority. For authority simply means right; and nothing is authoritative except what somebody has a right to do, and therefore is right in doing. It often happens in this imperfect world that he has the right to do it and not the power to do it. But he cannot have a shred of authority if he merely has the power to do it and not the right to do it.... To abuse authority is to attack authority. A policeman is no longer a policeman when he is bribed privately to arrest an innocent man; he is a private criminal. He is not exaggerating authority; he is reducing it to nothing."
– G.K. Chesterton
From the essay, "True and False Comparisons"
This essay can be found in the newly released Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 37.
-
"I grew up in a world in which the Protestants, who had just proved that Rome did not believe the Bible, were excitedly discovering that they did not believe the Bible themselves."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book, The Catholic Church and Conversion.
-
"I am not at all disturbed about the future of the Faith; but I am disturbed about the future of the doubters."
– G.K. Chesterton
From the essay, "The Rout of Reason", collected in the book In Defense of Sanity.
-
"For, given any freedom of that sort, the State does become one vast Foundling Hospital. If families will not be responsible for their own children then officials will be responsible for other people's children.... The total control of human life will pass to the State; and it will be a very Totalitarian State."
– G.K. Chesterton
From the essay "An Alternative to the Family", found in the newly released Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 37.
-
"I despise Birth-Control because it is a weak and wobbly and cowardly thing. It is not even a step along the muddy road they call Eugenics; it is a flat refusal to take the first and most obvious step along the road of Eugenics. Once grant that their philosophy is right, and their course of action is obvious; and they dare not take it; they dare not even declare it... The obvious course for Eugenists is to act towards babies as they act towards kittens. Let all the babies be born; and then let us drown those we do not like."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book The Well and the Shallows.
-
"A common hesitation in our day touching the use of extreme convictions is a sort of notion that extreme convictions, especially upon cosmic matters, have been responsible in the past for the thing which is called bigotry. But a very small amount of direct experience will dissipate this view. In real life the people who are most bigoted are the people who have no convictions at all."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book Heretics.
-
"Religious liberty might be supposed to mean that everybody is free to discuss religion. In practice it means that hardly anybody is allowed to mention it."
– G.K. Chesterton
Quoted in G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense by Dale Ahlquist
-
"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book Christendom in Dublin.
-
"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book The Everlasting Man.
-
"I read the astounding statement that the Catholic Church regards sex as having the nature of sin. How marriage can be a sacrament if sex is a sin, or why it is the Catholics who are in favour of birth and their foes who are in favour of birth control, I will leave the critic to worry out for himself."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his book Saint Thomas Aquinas.
-
"I am incurably convinced that the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid."
– G.K. Chesterton
From his Autobiography.
-
"The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice."
– G.K. Chesterton
Quoted in G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense by Dale Ahlquist.
Novels & Poetry
Best known for his detective fiction, G.K. Chesterton was also author of numerous other novels, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to thrillers and satire.
Most famous for his epic poems The Battle of the White Horse and Lepanto, G.K. Chesterton was also constantly composing poetry throughout his life—writing in many styles, from serious works to nonsense verse.
-
The Ballad of the White Horse
The Ballad of the White Horse is one of the last great epic poems in the English language. On the one had it describes King Alfred's battle against the Danes in 878. On the other hand it is a timeless allegory about the ongoing battle between Christianity and the forces of nihilistic heathenism. Filled with colorful characters, thrilling battles and mystical visions, it is as lively as it is profound.
This deluxe volume is the definitive edition of the poem. It exactly reproduces the 1928 edition with Robert Austin's beautiful woodcuts, and includes a thorough introduction and wonderful endnotes by Sister Bernadette Sheridan, from her 60 years researching the poem. Illustrated.
Available in Hardcover
-
Father Brown of the Church of Rome
Selected Mystery Stories
This is a unique collection of ten of Chesterton's famous Father Brown stories which puts special emphasis on the role that Brown's Catholic faith played in helping him solve the murder mysteries. As Dorothy Sayers once wrote, Chesterton was "the first man of our time to introduce the great name of God into a detective story ... to enlarge the boundaries of the detective story by making it deal with death and real wickedness and real, that is to say, divine judgment."
This paperback Father Brown edition includes generous footnotes (not available in other editions) which help to clarify the literary and historical allusions made by Father Brown. It is based on the texts of the original editions by Chesterton for assurance of complete authenticity, and is set in easily readable type.
Available in Softcover
-
Lepanto
ed. by Dale Ahlquist
Hilaire Belloc called "Lepanto" Chesterton's greatest poem and the greatest poem of his generation. But not only have English classes neglected this masterpiece of rhyme and meter, History classes have neglected the story of the pivotal battle upon which the poem is based.
This book brings together the poem, the historical background of the famous battle, a riveting account of the battle itself, and a discussion of its historical consequences. The poem is fully annotated, and is supplemented with two interesting essays by Chesterton himself. Well-known Chesterton expert, Dale Ahlquist, has gathered together all the insightful commentaries and explanatory notes. Here is the story behind the modern conflict between Christianity and Islam, between Protestant and Catholic Europe, and the origin of the Feast of the Holy Rosary. A fascinating blend of literature, history, religion and romance!
Available in Softcover, E-book, and Downloadable Audio
Related: Lepanto: The Battle that Saved the West – Audio Talk on CD -
Manalive
A Novel by G.K. Chesterton
This classic novel by Chesterton tells the rollicking tale of Innocent Smith, a man who may be crazy—or he may be the most sane man of all. Arriving at a London boarding house accompanied by a windstorm, Innocent is soon accused of attempted murder, burglary, polygamy, and desertion of his wife. As the residents of Beacon House try to piece together what this madman is up to, a detective is called upon to unravel the accusations against Smith. Actor Kevin O'Brien of the Theater of the Word gives a dramatic reading of the text in the audio versions.
Available in Softcover, E-book, Audio Book on CD, Downloadable Audio
-
The Man Who was Thursday
with Annotations by Martin Gardner
This edition of Chesterton's masterpiece and most famous novel, The Man Who Was Thursday, explicates and enriches the complete text with extensive footnotes, together with an introductory essay on the metaphysical meaning of Chesterton's profound allegory. Martin Gardner sees the novel's anarchists as symbols of our God-given free will, and the mysterious Sunday as representing Nature, with its strange mixture of good and evil when considered as distinct from God, as a mask hiding the transcendental face of the creator. The book also includes a bibliography listing the novel's many earlier editions and stage dramatizations, as well as numerous illustrations that further illuminate the text. Illustrated.
Available in Softcover and Downloadable Audio