A blog dedicated to providing quotes by and posts relating to one of the most influential (and quotable!) authors of the twentieth century, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). If you do not know much about GKC, I suggest visiting the webpage of the American Chesterton Society as well as this wonderful Chesterton Facebook Page by a fellow Chestertonian

I also have created a list detailing examples of the influence of Chesterton if you are interested, that I work on from time to time.

(Moreover, for a list of short GKC quotes, I have created one here, citing the sources)

"...Stevenson had found that the secret of life lies in laughter and humility."

-Heretics (1905)
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

"If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what might not the heart of man become in its long journey towards the stars?"

From Maisie Ward's book "Return to Chesterton" [p. 161 in my edition]. The context of this scene being World War 1.
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...Then came August 4th and the beginning of another kind of tragedy. As the weeks dragged on the strain became greater and greater, but there had come also a lifting of the heart in Gilbert that responded to the heroism around him. Mrs. Meredith remembers keenly a November afternoon in the little study at Overroads. Gilbert was dictating and a newsboy was crying bad news underneath the window and announcing the death and the wounds of many young Englishmen. Gilbert paused in the detective story he was writing and after the pause he went on in a new voice:

"If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what might not the heart of man become in its long journey towards the stars?"

As he spoke the boy's voice could still be heard, growing fainter as he vanished into the mist.

3 comments:

Alyssa said...

Wow, I love that quote. :)

mjm said...

Hello, Mike. I am a teacher in California and have had a poster in my classroom with this Chesterton quote for many years. I enjoyed learning the context of it when I stumbled upon your blog this afternoon. Thanks! I was born in Missouri and taught in Paducah for 8 years in the '70s.

Mike said...

Great to hear. :-)