G.K. Chesterton, an English writer who, amongst his many legacies, is credited with writing the biography that revived the work of Charles Dickens. Many famous minds including C.S. Lewis, Marshall McLuhan and writer Neil Gaiman have touted G.K. Chesterton’s work as inspirational. We describe him as being one of the authors of the greatest love quote ever

“The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” – G.K Chesterton

Chesterton was born in 1874 and passed away from congestive heart failure in 1936. Chesterton’s work can be described as poignant, sharp and brief; his quotes manage to provoke thought without relying on lengthy passages.

When it comes to memorable words of wisdom, brevity is an excellent quality to have in a writer. G.K. Chesterton does it again here with the quote,

“Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” – G.K. Chesterton

What more can we say: the guy has some incredibly inspiring work that you have to check out. So with that in mind, here are 30 quotes that are sure to inspire you.

The 30 Best G.K. Chesterton Quotes On Life, Love & Religion

1. On Love:

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.

2. On Having Enough

There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

3. On God:

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. – Introduction to The Book of Job.

4. On Christianity:

Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

5. On Vision:

One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.

6. On Imagination:

Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination. – Orthodoxy

7. On Education:

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.

8. On Gratitude:

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

9. On Picking Sides

Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference which is an elegant name for ignorance.

10. On Beer:

Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer’s day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented.

11. On Not Listening To Others Advice:

“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”

12. On The Value of Mystery:

As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. – Orthodoxy

13. On Adventure:

An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

14. On Women And Intuition:

A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.

15. On Limits:

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.

16. On Individuality

A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it. – The Everlasting Man

17. On Courage:

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.

18. On Being Humbled by Relgion

It has been often said, very truly, that religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary. – Charles Dickens: A Critical Study

19. On Sin

Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. – Orthodoxy

20. On Theology

Theology is only thought applied to religion. – The New Jerusalem

21. On Religion

One of the chief uses of religion is that it makes us remember our coming from darkness, the simple fact that we are created. – The Boston Sunday Post

22. On idolatry

Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice. – Illustrated London News

23. On Religious Liberty:

The man of the true religious tradition understands two things: liberty and obedience. The first means knowing what you really want. The second means knowing what you really trust. – G.K.’s Weekly

24. On Humility:

Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak. – The Innocence of Father Brown

25. On Relativity:

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.

26. On Fallacies

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.

27. On Rights

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.

28. On Joking About Religion:

It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it. – All Things Considered

29. On Drinking:

Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable.

30. On Sensationalism:

The simplification of anything is always sensational.

Pretty amazing stuff, no? For one of the lesser known quote authors, G.K. Chesterton is definitely one of the most prolific.

Did you find these inspiring? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments.