"For when once people have begun to believe that prosperity is the reward of virtue their next calamity is obvious. If prosperity is regarded as the reward of virtues, it will be regarded as the symptom of virtue. Men will leave off the heavy task of making good men successful. They will adopt the easier task of making our successful men good."
G.K. Chesterton, “The Book of Job,” in Alberto Manguel, ed., On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by G.K. Chesterton
"Why are expensive cars kept in the drive way and useless junk kept inside the garage?"
One of "Gilbert’s Top Ten Unanswered Questions", in Gilbert! magazine Vol. 4 #7
"’The mystery of life is the plainest part of it."
G.K. Chesterton, quoted by John Peterson in Gilbert Magazine vol. 10 #7 (6-7/07)
"The effect of boredom on a large scale in history is underestimated"
Dean Inge, quoted in Russell Kirk The Conservative Mind
"no rational creature can be supposed to change his condition with an intention to be worse"
John Locke The Second Treatise of Government
"It is no more admirable to have valuable suggestions to make and not put them into circulation than it is to have a valuable coin of the realm and keep it stuffed into a greasy old stocking."
G.K. Chesterton, “The Walking Paradox,” in Alberto Manguel, ed., On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by G.K. Chesterton
"I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite."
G. K. Chesterton, quoted by Jeff Hayden on Inc. online (www.inc.com/jeff-haden/top-350-inspiring-motivational-quotes-to-tweet-and-share.html) them, but most important, use them to motivate you to reach the heights you dream of reaching.”
"You say you want man to be to himself what God has been to man. But what God has been to man is man’s absolute superior, and man cannot be his own superior…. So when you say you want man to be to himself what God has been to man hitherto, you mean you want some men to be to other men what God has been to man. You want some men to be the absolute superiors of others. I assume that you want to be in the former group and not in the latter."
J. Budziszewski in What We Can’t Not Know [part of his Platonic dialogue with a skeptic].