More G. K. Chesterton Quotations

“Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.”

“Men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back.”

“This is the age in which thin and theoretic minorities can cover and conquer unconscious and untheoretic majorities.”

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

“The only defensible war is a war of defense.”

“There are some desires that are not desirable.”

“Modern broad-mindedness benefits the rich; and benefits nobody else.”

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

“When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.”

“Men are ruled, at this minute by the clock, by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern.”

“For fear of the newspapers politicians are dull, and at last they are too dull even for the newspapers.”

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”

“There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions.”

“Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable.”

“The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.”

“When a politician is in opposition he is an expert on the means to some end; and when he is in office he is an expert on the obstacles to it.”

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”

“I think the oddest thing about the advanced people is that, while they are always talking about things as problems, they have hardly any notion of what a real problem is.”

Pax et bonum

Chesterton Quotations

"If there were no God, there would be no atheists."

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

“Tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything.”

“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.”

“Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural.”

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”

“Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”

“Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.”

“The unpardonable sin is being bored.”

“These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.”

“You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion.”

Pax et bonum

Reading Romances - Male Authors

As I continue my research into Christian Romance Novels with the thought of trying my hand at one, I checked my local library to see if it carried any of the books by a Christians Romance Novelist who happens to be a member of my parish, Ruth Logan Herne. The name, by the way is her pen name.

I had actually read ac couple of her books before. She had given away free copies at our parish, and my wife had taken some.

The library had only two books by her - even though she has written some 45 books.

I took the two out. They were for a series about a ranch. There are only two books in the series - and I don't know if she planned to write more. As far as I can tell, she stopped publishing back in 2022. I need to ask her if she has stopped writing romances.

Anyway, I read the first book, Back in the Saddle.

I don't mean this as an insult, but it is a typical romance novel. It is set on a ranch. A young man returns home from his corporate job in the big city and gradually rediscovers family and faith. On the ranch there is a young woman who made a mistake in her past, but has found faith, and fled her big city job for the small-town life. There are all sorts of complications; the ranch and the small town are threatened. She is tempted to return to her city life, he is tempted to return to his big city life - both have offers to do so - but, of course, they choose to remain with each other. 

Given that the book is a romance, I won't review it as if it is great literature. 

But I had problems in that it is clearly written from a female point-of-view. I can see that it would appeal to women, but as a guy, I found it difficult. Oh, I finished it and could appreciate it as a decent example of light literature, with romantic and Christian underpinnings, but I didn't feel compelled to read the second book.

At that point I wondered if there are any men who write Christians Romance Novels. I was curious to find out if I would find them easier to read as they write from a male perspective. Hopefully they would not be like the Jack Nicholson character in As Good As It Gets. 

(Receptionist: How do you write women so well?
Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.)

I discovered there were several. They tended to write historical novels with romantic elements. I checked our local library; it carries the books of only one of them, Gilbert Morris.

I went to the library and found a whole shelf of his books, many of them part of a series about "The House of Winslow", tracing the Winslow family through the centuries. I took out three of the books set in the Civil War, - Books 8-10. The Civil War is a period that interests me. Two of my plays are set during the war, and one of them, The Beau Ideal, I had performed as a one-man-show, and was later performed by our local professional theater. And I was thinking of setting a book during the war - perhaps as a mystery, or maybe as a romance.

I am not done with the first book, The Last Confederate, but I am enjoying it. The male perspective is easier for me to relate to, and the historical elements appeal to me as a Civil War buff and former history teacher.

I'll finish the book and likely go on to the second. For pleasure - and for research for my own writing.

Pax et bonum

A Follow-up to the Romance Movies

I've been enjoying the Christian romance movies - especially the Christmas ones. They are light, fluff, but with an underlying moral and positive message. 

Which got me to wondering about Christian romance books.

The modern ones are a little too contemporary for me, but there is a whole subgenre of Christian historical romances. I might check some of them out. And there are some male authors who tend to specialize in historical Christian novels and romance novels. I need to check them out as well.

Might I try my hand at writing come? Hmmm. We have a Christian romance novelist at our parish. I just might have a chat with her at some point.

Meanwhile, I did a little work on my Santa book. 

Pax et bonum