-
"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.
Books about Chesterton
-
The Apostle of Common Sense
by Dale Ahlquist
G. K. Chesterton was one of the most well-known and beloved writers of his time. Yet he has been strangely neglected today. This book is the perfect introduction to Chesterton. Ahlquist is an able guide who takes the reader through twelve of Chesterton's most important books as well as the famous Father Brown stories.
There is something special that runs throughout Chesterton's books that sets him apart from the confusing philosophies of the modern world. That common thread in Chesterton's writings is common sense. It is instantly recognizable and utterly refreshing.
-
Common Sense 101
Lessons from G.K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahlquist
Dale Ahlquist, the President of the American Chesterton Society, and author of G. K. Chesterton -The Apostle of Common Sense, presents a book of wonderful insights on how to "look at the whole world through the eyes of Chesterton". Since, as he says, "Chesterton wrote about everything", there is an ocean of his material to benefit from GKC's insights on a kaleidoscope of many important topics.
As Ahlquist shows in his engaging volume, this most quoted writer of the 20th century has much to share with us on topics covering politics, art, education, wonder, marriage, fads, poetry, faith, charity and much more.
-
The Complete Thinker
The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahlquist
What does it mean to be a "complete thinker"? It means being able to take on a wide variety of ideas and disciplines and put them all together in a way that they work together. It means thinking like G.K. Chesterton.
The English author G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the most prolific and well-known writers of his time, and one of the most widely quoted in our own. For newspapers and magazines, he wrote social commentary, literary criticism, and poetry with poignancy and wit. Creator of the beloved detective Father Brown, Chesterton also wrote novels and short stories. Drawing on literally hundreds of references from Chesterton's vast writings, Dale Ahlquist conducts a symphony, with Chesterton playing all the instruments in perfect harmony.
-
G. K. Chesterton
The Autobiography
Here is a special two-in-one book that is both by G.K. Chesterton and about Chesterton. This volume offers an irresistible opportunity to see who this remarkable man really was. Chesterton was one of the most stimulating and well-loved writers of the 20th century. His 100 books, and hundreds of essays and columns on a great variety of themes have made G.K. Chesterton the most widely quoted writers of modern times.
Available in Softcover
-
Wisdom and Innocence
A Life of G.K. Chesterton, by Joseph Pearce
Through years of meticulous research and access to the literary estate of G.K. Chesterton, Joseph Pearce presents a major biography of a 20th century literary giant, providing a great deal of important information on GKC never before published. This is a thoroughly readable and delightful biography of a multi-faceted author, artist and debater who loved the friendship of children, idolized his wife and enjoyed great friendships with the likes of Hillaire Belloc, Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells. Illustrated.
Available in Softcover
-
Literary Giants, Literary Catholics
by Joseph Pearce
British author Joseph Pearce has firmly established himself as the premier literary biographer of our time, especially in interpreting the spiritual depths of the Catholic literary tradition. In this book, Pearce examines a plethora of authors, taking the reader through a dazzling tour of the creative landscape of Catholic prose and poetry. Literary Giants, Literary Catholics covers the vast terrain from Dante to Tolkien, from Shakespeare to Waugh.
Focusing on the literary revival of the 20th century, Joseph Pearce touches on well-known authors like G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien, but also introduces readers to lesser-known writers like Roy Campell, Maurice Baring, and Owen Barfield. Anyone who appreciates English literature will be entranced by the wealth and depth of this new masterpiece.
-
Literary Converts
Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief, by Joseph Pearce
Literary Converts is a biographical exploration into the spiritual lives of some of the greatest writers in the English language: Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge, Graham Greene, Edith Sitwell, Siegfried Sassoon, Hilaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, T.S. Eliot, and J.R.R. Tolkien. The role of George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells in intensifying the religious debate despite not being converts themselves is also considered.
Many will be intrigued to know more about what inspired their literary heroes; others will find the association of such names with Christian belief surprising or even controversial. Whatever viewpoint we may have, Literary Converts touches on some of the most important questions of the twentieth century, making it a fascinating read.
-
Classic Catholic Converts
by Fr. Charles P. Connor
Classic Catholic Converts presents the compelling stories of over 25 well-known converts to Catholicism from the 19th and 20th centuries. It tells of powerful testimonials to God's grace, men and women from all walks of life in Europe and America whose search for the fullness of truth led them to the Catholic Church. It is the witness of brilliant intellectuals, social workers, scientists, authors, film producers, clergy, businessmen, artists and others who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, studied and prayed their way into the Church.
Fr. Charles Connor writes insightful and wonderfully readable stories of a rich variety of converts who struggled greatly with many challenges as they embraced Catholicism, including rejection by loved ones, persecution from strangers, and misunderstanding by peers. But, once they responded to God's call, they experienced great inner peace, contentment and joy. Among the famous converts whose stories are told here include John Henry Newman, Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dorothy Day, G.K. Chesterton, Elizabeth Seton, Karl Stern, Ronald Knox and many more.
-
G.K. Chesterton
Ignatius-CTS booklet
This package of 5 booklets is available at a 20% discount for parishes, schools, and other church organizations. For more information, please call 1-888-615-3186.
Chesterton was a convert to Catholicism and a prolific novelist, critic, biographer, journalist. Above all he was a defender of the faith and common sense which he saw in everything natural and good. He debated the great questions that have always preoccupied human beings with other great minds such as George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells. But what transpires from the flamboyance and humour of his poetry and prose is a man in love with life and with God, constantly putting his intellect at the service of ordinary men and of an extraordinary God.
Available in Catholic Truth Society booklet