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/lit/ - Literature

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4234049 No.4234049[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

GK Chesterton Thread.

We may say broadly that free thought is the best of all safeguards against freedom. Managed in a modern style the emancipation of the slave's mind is the best way of preventing the emancipation of the slave. Teach him not to worry about whether he wants to be free, and he will not free himself. Again, it may be said that this instance is remote or extreme. But, again, it is exactly true of the men in the streets around us. It is true that the negro slave, being a debased barbarian, will probably have either a human affection of loyalty, or a human affection for liberty. But the man we see everyday - the worker in Mr. Gradgrind's factory, the little clerk in Mr. Gradgrind's office - he is too mentally worried to believe in freedom. He is kept quiet with revolutionary literature. He is calmed and kept in his place by a constant succession of wild philosophies.

cont..

>> No.4234052
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4234052

He is a Marxian one day, a Nietzscheite the next day, a Superman (probably) the next day; and a slave every day. The only thing that remains after all the philosophies is the factory. The only man who gains by all the philosophies is Gradgrind. It would be worth his while to keep his commercial helotry supplied with skeptical literature. And now I come to think of it, of course, Gradgrind is famous for giving libraries. He shows his sense. All modern books are on his side. As long as the vision of heaven is always changing, the vision of earth will be exactly the same. No ideal will remain long enough to be realized, or even partly realized. The modern young man will never change his environment; for he will always change his mind.

>> No.4234062

Boo.

>> No.4234064
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4234064

bump

>> No.4234066

Don't bump so much you fuck. This board is hells slow.

>> No.4234067

>>4234066

i bumped once goddammit.


..nobody has anything good to say i guess

>> No.4234069

>>4234067
It's crazy to bump when you're still on page 0. It's the middle of the night for most users. Try again at a more active time if you want immediate results or open with some of your own opinions/questions.

>> No.4234070

>>4234069

u right..

>> No.4234094

>>4234067
well you also didn't really provide people with much to talk about, tbh, beyond "I Like Chesterton" (I do like Chesterton a lot tho)

>> No.4234098

my highscool philosophy teachyer had a hardon for che3sterton and bloom (allan)\
#catholicschool

>> No.4234149

>>4234049
>We may say broadly that free thought is the best of all safeguards against freedom
This makes no sense. You guard yourself against having freedom by thinking freely?

>> No.4234155

>>4234052
>The modern young man will never change his environment; for he will always change his mind.
If quotes where cookies this will make me Mmm like no other.

>> No.4234860

Chesterton is great.

Thanks, Borges.

>> No.4235694

>>4234149

The idea is that if you have "free thought" - it wanders from place to place and you never actually take action on any of the thoughts. Chesterton imagines a un-moving ideal where you you aim and never stray - this being the only way to take real action for freedom (like say action to free yourself from a greedy lord).

>> No.4235703

>>4234860

"Within his fiction (Borges', that is) there can be found an almost lurid use of colour - learned, Borges says, from Chesterton."

Borges is great.

Thanks, Chesterton.

>> No.4236539

"So he who wills to reject nothing,
wills the destruction of will; for will is not only
the choice of something, but the rejection of
almost everything." - Chesterton, p. 62 Orthodoxy

Always liked this one

>> No.4236549

>G.K. Chesterton The Apostle of Common Sense - God is Dead: Chesterton vs. Nietzsche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh1ToGbVZOI


Watch this if you're looking for a laugh this Sat night.
Produced by our goods friends at EWTN.

>> No.4236684

The only redeemable part of Chesterton comes from one line that wasn't even written by the man:

"There came a sound like that of Mr. G. K. Chesterton falling onto a sheet of tin."

There. That's it. His existence was worthwhile only because it allowed Wodehouse to make a fat joke, and for no other reason.

>> No.4236747

Looks like you read the wikipedia entry as well. Congratu-fucking-lations.

>> No.4236754

What makes hom so quotable?

>> No.4236759

>>4234098
Why'd your professor make the class read Allan Bloom?

>> No.4236770

>>4235694
So we set the ideal to half assing everything and calling it openmindedness
Turns out we suck shit at that ideal too

>> No.4236771

>>4236754
He wrote about the paradoxical aspects of Christianity some written acknowledged by Gregory of Nazianzus and made it sound intellectual. That's not intended to be insidious. Chesterton made Catholic theology intelligible for lay people and amicable amongst theologians with his wittiness and reasoning.

>> No.4237095
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4237095

>>4234049
>>4234052
What a load of bull shit.

Young modern men are foolish because:

They do not change this very vague thing
because
They are caught up with these very specific things.

This could argue for anything, check it.

>He is a postman one day, a waiter the next, a factory worker (probably) the next day; and a fool every day. The only thing that remains after all the careers is his feeble mind...The modern young man will never change his state of mind; for he will always be worrying about his environment.