Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.

About G. K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English Christian apologist writer. Chesterton's wit, paradoxical style, and defence of tradition made him a dominant figure in early 20th-century literature.

More quotations from G. K. Chesterton

It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.

—G. K. Chesterton

A permanent possibility of selfishness arises from the mere fact of having a self, and not from any accidents of education or ill-treatment. And the weakness of all Utopias is this, that they take the greatest difficulty of man and assume it to be overcome, and then give an elaborate account of the overcoming of the smaller ones. They first assume that no man will

—G. K. Chesterton

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.

—G. K. Chesterton

desire trying Christian

How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiosity and pleasure; if you could see them walking as they are in their sunny selfishness and their virile indifference! You would begin to be interested in them, because they were not interested in you. You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theater in which your own little plot is always being played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street full of splendid strangers.

—G. K. Chesterton

In the main, and from the beginning of time, mysticism has kept men sane. The thing that has driven them mad was logic.

—G. K. Chesterton

More quotations tagged with “defense”

The best defense against the atom bomb is not to be there when it goes off.

—The British Army Journal

defense

When you're young, you always think you'll meet all sorts of wonderful people, that drifting apart and losing friends is natural. You don't worry, at first, about the friends you leave behind. But as you get older, it gets harder to build friendships. Too many defenses, too little opportunity. You get busy. And by the time you realize that you've lost the dearest best friend you've ever had, years have gone by and you're mature enough to be embarrassed by your attitude and, frankly, by your arrogance.

—Kate Jacobs in The Friday Night Knitting Club

friendship friends youth opportunity busyness attitude arrogance defense

The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

logic argument defense

Antonio Rivera took refuge with other Nationalists in the Alcázar during the Spanish Civil War. As a pacifist, the youth refused at first to help defend the ancient stronghold, and was put on latrine duty. When the situation of the besieged became more desperate, he decided that it would not be inconsistent with his principles to aid in the defense, provided that he did not kill in hatred. He was assigned the position of loader to a heavy machine gun. It was said that he would give the signal to fire with the words: "Tirad — pero sin odio." (Fire — but without hatred. )

—Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes

war hatred killing defense

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.

—George Orwell

politics speech defense