Relevant and Witty Thoughts

The Quotable Chesterton by Kevin Belmonte captures the brilliance of man but also the importance of his work. Chesterton the apologist, the humorist, the teacher all come through in this thorough and wide ranging collection.


Belmonte arranges the quotes alphabetically by topic, covering the spectrum from subject of Christ to the subject of Cheese.

There is also an effective biographical sketch of G.K. Chesterton, his influence on C.S. Lewis and Fredrick Beuchner—and how that influence shaped the work of those men.

In summary, Belmonte answers the question, “why is G.K. Chesterton still important?” And the beauty of Belmonte’s compilation is he lets Chesterton’s thoughts and words answer that question. Chesterton’s work requires thought; I found myself often re-reading sections.

I was amazed at Chesterton’s attempt to capture the tension of secularism and faith, and how relevant that is today. The cleverness which wraps up every idea adds to its depth.

Some examples: on snobbery: “We choose to call the great mass of history of mankind bad, not because it is bad, but because we (think we) are better.” Or this on love: “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.”

It’s a substantive collective of thoughts from a brilliant thinker and will spur any reader onto to healthy imagination and consideration.