Quotes by G. K. Chesterton

“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.”

“Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.”

“The artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs.”

“Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.”

“The artistic temperament is a disease that affects amateurs. Artists of a large and wholesome vitality get rid of their art easily, as they breathe easily or perspire easily. But in artists of less force the thing becomes a pressure, and produces def”

“Wit is a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it.”

“THE UNIVERSE: The most exquisite masterpiece ever composed by nobody.”

“Every act of will is an act of self-limitation. To desire action is to desire limitation. In that sense, every act is an act of self-sacrifice. When you choose anything, you reject everything else.”

“Bigotry may be roughly defined as the anger of men who have no opinions.”

“The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled, so much as to make settled things strange.”

“Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.”

“Cruelty is, perhaps, the worst kid of sin. Intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty.”

“All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change.”

“Men feel that cruelty to the poor is a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is an injustice to equals; nay it is treachery to comrades.”

“Happiness is a mystery like religion, and it should never be rationalized.”

“The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind.”

“The honest poor can sometimes forget poverty. The honest rich can never forget it.”

“Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf.”

“I believe in getting into hot water - it helps keep you clean.”

“All government is an ugly necessity.”