My man, Gilbert Keith (G.K. Chesterton)

Ah, Gilbert Keith Chesterton.

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a Chesterton fanatic. As such, my thoughts on him may be a bit biased—though I’ll try to be objective. To start, then, a few of my favorite quotes to convince you of his genius:

“You say grace before meals.

All right.

But I say grace before the play and the opera,


And grace before the concert 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.”

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

“Let your religion be less of a theory, and more of a love affair.”

“If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.”

“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.”

“'My country, right or wrong' is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober.'”

“The word ‘good’ has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.”

Convinced?

A bit of background: Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born May 29, 1874 in Kensington, London, England and died at age 62 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. He was educated at St. Paul’s School and attended the Slade School of Art in order to become an illustrator and also took literature classes at University College, London but did not obtain a degree from either institution. Instead, he took up a job at a publishing company and did journalistic work as a freelance art and literary critic. (How’d you like to have Chesterton critique your work?) He married Frances Blogg in 1901, to whom he was married the rest of his life. In 1902, he was given a weekly opinion column in the Daily News, and then in 1905 began a weekly column in The Illustrated London News, where he worked for the following thirty years.

The man generally wore a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand and a cigar in mouth. And if you’ve read his autobiography, you would know that he and George Bernard Shaw played cowboys in a silent movie that was never released. Furthermore, he has been dubbed “The Prince of Paradox.” He ultimately wrote something like 80 books, several hundred poems, 200 short stories, 4000 essays, and several plays. He is known for his work in philosophy, poetry, plays, journalism, debating skill, literary criticism, Christian apologetics, and as we know—fantasy/detective fiction. His work in brilliant—he’s the “prince of paradox,” while simultaneously commenting on the world, matters of government, philosophy, theology, etc. In addition, much of his work is still in print.

For our class’ purposes, it may also be important to note that Chesterton referred to himself as an “orthodox” Christian, and was a member of the Anglican Church. Later in life, however, he came to identify more and more with Catholicism and did ultimately convert in 1922.

In conclusion, he’s great.

Quoted and Paraphrased from:

http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/06/12.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton

http://www.chesterton.org/wordpress/ (you know you’re successful when you have your own society)

http://www.ccel.org/c/chesterton