G. K. Chesterton

Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. Some read more

Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. Some followers of the Rev. R. J. Campbell, in their almost too fastidious spirituality, admit divine sinlessness, which they cannnot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. The strongest saints and the strongest sceptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and Man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.

Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all read more

Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.

Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.

Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.

We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.

We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.

Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of read more

Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of the world. But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul survives its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged.