A blog dedicated to providing quotes by and posts relating to one of the most influential (and quotable!) authors of the twentieth century, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). If you do not know much about GKC, I suggest visiting the webpage of the American Chesterton Society as well as this wonderful Chesterton Facebook Page by a fellow Chestertonian

I also have created a list detailing examples of the influence of Chesterton if you are interested, that I work on from time to time.

(Moreover, for a list of short GKC quotes, I have created one here, citing the sources)

"...Stevenson had found that the secret of life lies in laughter and humility."

-Heretics (1905)
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Saturday, July 10, 2010

"...but we always contrive to forget the manhood of anybody who can contrive to get mentioned under any other special description."

Most of the modern controversies arise out of a complete inability to grasp the idea of human fraternity. We talk a huge amount of rhetoric about mankind and manhood and man as man; but we always contrive to forget the manhood of anybody who can contrive to get mentioned under any other special description. We constantly say, for instance, that So-and-So will certainly be exact, impartial, and veracious because he is a man of science. But we only remember the word "science" and forget the word "man." In so far as he is of science he will doubtless be exact, impartial, and veracious. In so far as he is a man of science he will be loose, partial, and a liar. So in the same way we speak of a military man, and say that if he is a military man he will be firm, masculine, and indomitable. In so far as he is military he is liable to have these merits. In so far as he is a man he liable to run away. So again we speak of a medical man, and do not adequately reflect that he is a man, however medical. Even of the more attractive word "gentleman" the same principle is true. The man is inside the gentleman as certainly as the word "man" is inside the word "gentleman." The gentleman means only the man who is gentle. And the man is not always gentle.

-January 27, 1906, Illustrated London News

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