Gilbert K. Chesterton Quotes
We do not admire, we hardly excuse, the fanatic who wrecks this world for love of the other. But what are we to say of the fanatic who wrecks this world out of hatred of the other? He sacrifices the very existence of humanity to the non-existence of God. He offers his victims not to the altar, but merely to assert the idleness of the altar and the emptiness of the throne. He is ready to ruin even that primary ethic by which all things live, for his strange and eternal vengeance upon some one who never lived at all.
Chesterton, G. K. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. J. W. Arrowsmith, 1908, p. 222.
This quotation is often given by those who believe that nothing has really changed regarding the Arabs and non-Islamic Westerners in the last century. While the support of dictators, Israel and support for that democracy, the artificial Western imposed borders, 9-11, or the Iraq war is often cited as the cause of Arab hostility and murderous aggression, as this quotation demonstrates, the problems and attitudes and behaviors existed long before any of these occurred. The borders were not set until after WWI and all the other causes occurred almost 50 years later, Yet there was still the propensity for fanaticism and violence. Sikes actually was one of those who was to determine the Arab borders, making one of the first “suggested” maps of the area for the English.
This statement of the Prophet is often quoted by Yusuf al-Qaradawi and other moderate, modernist Islamic clerics and leaders urging people to eschew terrorism and Muslim fundamentalist extremism.
The President nominated Pat Garrett, the killer of Billy the Kid and others, as the Customs Collector of El Paso. This was a very significant position as Customs Duty was a primary source of Federal income in an era with no income tax. Garrett’s nomination, however, produced a firestorm of Texas opposition which surprised the President. It turned out that the famed lawman and gambler was not opposed because he had killed or gambled. He turned out to be an agnostic.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."
