#G.K. Chesterton

[macrolit]

I wish we could sometimes love the characters in real life as we love the characters in romances. There are a great many human souls whom we should accept more kindly, and even appreciate more clearly, if we simply thought of them as people in a story. - G.K. Chesterton

[apesoformythoughts]

"God has never told us what a turkey means. And if you go and stare at a live turkey for an hour or two, you will find by the end of it that the enigma has rather increased than diminished."

— G.K. Chesterton

[dk-thrive]

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

— G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy" (John Lane, 1908) (via Wait-What?)

[fictionadventurer]

It's so funny how Heretics is G.K. Chesterton publicly dragging his friends and they still stay his friends! Imagine if you did an in-depth analysis of every mutual's worldview and why they are wrong. It would be chaos. And yet this guy manages to publish this book, get paid money for it, and still maintains these friendships for several more decades. Only G.K., I tell you.

[garrett-strangelove]

If you show me a criminal be sure I'd want to rehabilitate them.

Father Brown did it very well with Flambeau (I'm shocked it actually happened in canon).

[francesderwent]

…the situation comes to this: the democracy has a right to answer questions, but it has no right to ask them. It is still the political aristocracy that asks the questions. And we shall not be unreasonably cynical if we suppose that the political aristocracy will always be rather careful what questions it asks….For the powerful class will choose two courses of action, both of them safe for itself, and then give the democracy the gratification of taking one course or the other. The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold—and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose.

G.K. Chesterton, The Voter and the Two Voices

[nothing--but--tea]

Detective Series part 3 / 3

G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown:

"The more you learn about other people, the more you understand yourself; and the more you understand yourself, the more you understand other people."

[femininomenun]

Hey G.K. quick question: what do you mean Father Brown has Flambeau on an invisible leash. what does that mean?

don’t walk away i just wanna talk!

[momentsbeforemass]

Worth doing badly

One of the most harmful ideas that we have about God is that God demands perfection.

The spoken or unspoken notion that God expects nothing less from us than perfect performance. 100%. Every time. Or it’s not good enough.

Or we’re not good enough.

That idea is the source of so many terrible things. Ranging from crippling anxiety to turning your back on God. And it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Because God isn’t looking for perfection from you and me.

What is God looking for? We see it in today’s Gospel, in Jesus’ story about the two sons.

One says that he will do what his father asked him to do. But then doesn’t do it.

The other says that he won’t do what his father asked him to do. But then does it.

That is what God is looking for.

Not the one who says they’ll do it. And then does it. Perfectly.

Actually, that isn’t even an option in Jesus’ story. Because in reality no one ever does that. So Jesus doesn’t even bring it up. It’s like He knows us or something.

What God is looking for is the one who does it. Period.

Not the one who says they’ll do it. And then does it. Perfectly.

Not the one who says they won’t do it. But then turns around and does it so amazingly well that it more than balances out their initial “no” to God.

Just the one who does it. Even if they got off to a bad start. Even if it’s not perfect.

As G.K. Chesterton puts it, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”

Not that you’re trying to mess things up. But when it comes to the things in life that truly matter – telling someone that you love them, raising a child, your relationships, including your relationship with God – you doing it is worth the risk that it won’t be done perfectly.

Why? Because that isn’t the important part.

The important part is that you did it. That’s the bit that matters.

That’s what God is looking for. Even if it’s not perfect.

Today’s Readings

[thebeautifulbook]

THE NAPOLEON OF NOTTING HILL by G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936. (New York/London: Lane/Bodley Head, 1904)

source

[hexagr]

G.K. Chesterton on democracy and tradition, from Orthodoxy.

[apesoformythoughts]

"It is absolutely useless and absurd to tell a man that he must not joke about sacred subjects. It is useless and absurd for a simple reason; because there are no subjects that are not sacred subjects. Every instant of human life is awful. Every step, every stirring of a finger, is full of an importance so huge and even so horrible that a man might go mad if he thought of it. If it is wrong to joke about one's death-bed it is wrong to joke about the veal and ham pie which, if pursued with too much devotion, may very likely have a great deal to do with bringing one to that death-bed. If it is wrong to joke about a dying man it is wrong to joke about any man. For every man is a dying man; a man dying slow or fast. In short, if we say that we must not jest about solemn subjects, what we really mean or ought to mean is that we must not jest at all [...]

I think we may jest on any subject. But I do not think that we may jest on any occasion. It is really irreverent to speak frivolously at those particular moments at which the seriousness of the matter is being specially and fiercely felt. We joke about death-beds, but not at death-beds [...] Life is serious all the time; but living cannot be serious all the time.

[In] anything that does cover the whole of your life--in your philosophy and your religion--you must have mirth. If you do not have mirth you will certainly have madness."

-- G.K. Chesterton: The Daily News, 1 September 1906

[married-to-a-redhead]

[fictionadventurer]

In doing some research for the Inklings stickers I came across this and had a good laugh🤣thought of you bc you’re reading Chesterton right now

First off: Research for the Inklings stickers? Hooray! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

I love that story! It's got everything--the Chesterton-Shaw frenemy-ship, jokes about Chesterton's weight. (It's even better now that Heretics gave me more details about Chesterton and Shaw's debates.)

Don't forget the story of the woman who came up to Chesterton while WWI was raging and asked, "Why aren't you out at the front?" to which Chesterton replied, " If you will go around to the side, you will see that I am."

Also, this reminded me of maybe my favorite moment in the Chesterton-Shaw friendship: this hilarious letter that Shaw sent to Frances Chesterton. I'm not sure what's better: his elaborate plan to needle Chesterton, the fact that he roped his wife into it, his suggestion to stand there reading at them for 90 minutes, or the fact that Shaw loved Chesterton's work so much he wanted to prompt him to write things Shaw disagreed with.

Actually, my favorite thing about their friendship might be the time Shaw said that if he ever got to heaven, it would be because of the friendship of G.K. Chesterton. (I hope he was right).

[garrett-strangelove]

Some of my favourite frames from my animatic :)

[palatinewolfsblog]

" A society is in decay, final or transitional,

when common sense really becomes uncommon."

G.K. Chesterton.

The Socialite (for my old friend and follower @cchris47 ) ...