Quotes by and posts relating to one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, G.K. Chesterton
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
When men have come to the edge of a precipice, it is the lover of life who has the spirit to leap backwards, and only the pessimist who continues to be a progressive.
BTW, just to give a little more of the context of the quote:
What the Socialist says is that we have gone too far along the road to concentration, and that we cannot turn back. Curiously enough, that is also what the capitalist says: he says we have gone too far along the road to monopoly and mass production and the domination of the world by a few millionaires from nowhere, to turn back to simpler or saner things. Personally I think the Socialist and the Capitalist are very much alike, especially in the great unifying quality of being both wrong. They are both wrong, above all, in what is at once their first and their final affirmation- that it is impossible to go back. I think they are wrong in this; but anyhow one thing is certain. If they are right, then everything is wrong. If there is no hope of going back, there is no good in going forward. When men have come to the edge of a precipice, it is the lover of life who has the spirit to leap backwards, and only the pessimist who continues to be a progressive.
Well, I have not ever read "The Jungle", so I cannot comment (or, to put it another way, I'm speechless- something you've been praying forever, I'm sure. lol.)
BTW, just to give a little more of the context of the quote:
ReplyDeleteWhat the Socialist says is that we have gone too far along the road to concentration, and that we cannot turn back. Curiously enough, that is also what the capitalist says: he says we have gone too far along the road to monopoly and mass production and the domination of the world by a few millionaires from nowhere, to turn back to simpler or saner things. Personally I think the Socialist and the Capitalist are very much alike, especially in the great unifying quality of being both wrong. They are both wrong, above all, in what is at once their first and their final affirmation- that it is impossible to go back. I think they are wrong in this; but anyhow one thing is certain. If they are right, then everything is wrong. If there is no hope of going back, there is no good in going forward. When men have come to the edge of a precipice, it is the lover of life who has the spirit to leap backwards, and only the pessimist who continues to be a progressive.
Good point Mike. I enjoyed the post and the comment. "The Jungle" By Sinclair comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have not ever read "The Jungle", so I cannot comment (or, to put it another way, I'm speechless- something you've been praying forever, I'm sure. lol.)
ReplyDelete