If you've ever read Chesterton you'll understand the fact that you can read his books in any order and they'll likely make just as much sense backward as forward. Most people who have attempted to read 'Orthodoxy' scrunch up their foreheads at the mere mention of the name and declare that they're not sure what in the world he was talking about. Perhaps his own work made little sense to Chesterton himself. And yet, maybe one in a thousand who read him are continually drawn to the way he takes you on a journey of spontaneous spiritual thought, and it's a journey worth taking. Below are some of my favorite quotes and each is a slice of prime ribeye to be savored and chewed on.
-On the smallness of man... "We sit in the starry chamber of silence while the laughter of the heavens is too loud for us to hear."
-On religion in general... "All the real argument about religion turns on the question of whether a man who was born upside down can tell when he comes right way up.
-On spiritual evolution... "The greatest disaster of the 19th century was this: that men began to use the word "spiritual" as the same as the word "good." They thought that to grow in refinement was to grow in virtue. When scientific evolution was announced, some feared that it would encourage mere animality. It did worse: it encouraged mere spirituality. It taught them to think that so long as they were passing from the ape they were going to be angels. But it has been found that you can pass from ape and go to the devil. Man may claim to be on the side of angels but most are on the side of fallen angels."
-On spiritual ignorance... "If a shade arose from the underworld, and stared at Piccadilly (famous intersection in London), it would quite not understand the idea of an ordinary closed carriage. He would suppose that the coachmen on the box was a triumphant conqueror, dragging behind him a kicking and imprisoned captive. So if we see spiritual facts for the first time, we may mistake who is uppermost. It is not enough to find the gods; they make themselves obvious; we must find God."