“We talk much about ‘respecting’ this or that person’s religion; but the way to respect a religion is to treat it as a religion: to ask what are its tenets and what are their consequences. But modern tolerance is dearer than intolerance. The old religious authorities, at least, defined a heresy before they condemned it, and read a book before they burned it. But we are always saying to a Mormon or a Moslem, ‘never mind about your religion, come to my arms.’ To which he naturally replies, ‘But I do mind about my religion, and I should advise you to mind your eye.’” G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News May 13, 1911, quoted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 15 #8 (July-August 2012)

“’It is obvious that the mind is moved by incongruity.’ That’s Chesterton writing about laughter. He also said ‘laughter is directly related to the strangeness of man on this strange earth.’ Because we are strangers here, we see the incongruities and they make us laugh.” Eric Scheske in Gilbert! Vol. 7 #5 (March 2004)

“The problem [for the Devil, regarding Adam and Eve] was to rid these two of their fantasies, to convince them that the world does exist; that life is not a game but a very serious, even difficult and troublesome thing, and that notions of good and evil are ultimately only relative and impermanent.” Peter Demianovich Ouspensky, Talks With A Devil: Two tales by P.D. Ouspensky

“The mark of the barbarian, as it seems to me, is that he accepts no judgment outside himself. If opinion on his actions is not as he would wish it to be, he appeals to force.” G.K. Chesterton in an interview with The Jewish Chronicle September 22, 1933

“But, as a famous old saying by a great nineteenth-century con man has it, ‘It’s much easier to sell the Brooklyn Bridge than to give it away.’ Nobody trusts you if you offer something for free.” Peter F. Drucker, Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Principles and Practices

“It is proper to demand more from the man with exceptional advantages than from the man without them. A heavy moral obligation rests upon the man of means and upon the man of education to do their full duty by their country. On no class does this obligation rest more heavily than upon the men with a collegiate education, the men who are graduates of our universities. Their education gives them no right to feel the least superiority over any of their fellow-citizens; but it certainly ought to make them feel that they should stand foremost in the honorable effort to serve the whole public by doing their duty as Americans in the body politic…” Theodore Roosevelt in The Atlantic Monthly August 1894

“Anything that is worth doing has been done frequently. Things hitherto undone should be given, I suspect, a wide berth.” Max Beerbohm

“‘Religion’ has been credited with fearsome pharmaceutical power. Communism calls it ‘the opiate of the people’ – brands it an addictive and debilitating drug. But our cheerfully consumerist society sometimes – and in the oddest places – welcomes ‘religion’ as a possible minor remedy, akin to a tummy mint. For instance, a recent book on women’s health has among its 400 pages a half-page on religion: In a chapter on ‘Stress,’ religion is offered as a stress reliever. It’s well down the list, coming after ‘Flexibility’ and ‘Decreasing Perfectionism’ and ‘Sense of Humor’ and ‘Education’ and ‘Expand Your Leisure and Creative Activities.’ If these don’t work, there is ‘The Importance of Religious Beliefs and Commitment.’ And what sort of belief and commitment are recommended for stress-busting? Two case histories are given: One lady volunteered to work at her synagogue and felt more involved; another wrote some goddess poetry and felt more empowered. As the old hymn has it, ‘Amazing goddess poetry, how sweet the sound, that saves a wretch like me.’ And when Jesus promised that the truth would make us free, did He mean wrinkle-free? The women’s magazines and girls’ magazines (Self and Seventeen, for instance) occasionally recommend meditation and prayer, much to the casual reader’s surprise. The purpose, it turns out, is the preservation of epidermal smoothness: You meditate and pray, you relax, you don’t scrunch up your face, hence you get fewer wrinkles.” New Oxford Review, Vol. LXVI #10 (November 1999)