The quotations of

G. K. Chesterton

English author and Christian apologist

1874–1936

94 quotes, most often on Christianity, God and Truth & Lies. Part of the Writers collection.

A yawn is a silent shout.
- Talking
The simplification of anything is always sensational.
Varied Types (1903)
The only right way of telling a story is to begin at the beginning⁠—at the beginning of the world. Therefore all books have to be begun in the wrong way for the sake of brevity.
- Writing
There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.
- America
There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.
Heretics (1905)
- Thinking
Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.
In The Illustrated London News (1905–1907)
- Education
There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. Men do not quarrel about the meaning of sunsets; they never dispute that the hawthorn says the best and wittiest thing about the spring.
The Defendant (1901)
- Beauty
It is always the secure who are humble.
The Defendant (1901)
- Pride
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
What’s Wrong With The World (1910)
- Motivation & Goals
There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.
Charles Dickens (1906)
- Character
- Leadership
The rich are the scum of the earth in every country.
The Flying Inn (1914), Ch. XV: “The Songs of the Car Club”
- Clever Jabs
- Money
It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.
All Things Considered (1908), “Spiritualism”
- Humor
- Religion
The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.
Tremendous Trifles (1909), Ch. I: “Tremendous Trifles”
The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.
Tremendous Trifles (1909), Ch. XXXI: “The Riddle of the Ivy”
Every one of the great revolutionists, from Isaiah to Shelley, have been optimists. They have been indignant, not about the badness of existence, but about the slowness of men in realizing its goodness.
The Defendant (1901), “Introduction”
- Hope

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