Orthodoxy

by G.K. Chesterton

This book is meant to be a companion to “Heretics,” and to put the positive side in addition to the negative. Many critics complained of the book called “Heretics” because it merely criticised current philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy. This book is an attempt to answer the challenge.

Thoroughly worldly people never understand even the world; they rely altogether on a few cynical maxims which are not true.

Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness.

Let beliefs fade fast and frequently, if you wish institutions to remain the same. The more the life of the mind is unhinged, the more the machinery of matter will be left to itself.

We may say broadly that free thought is the best of all the 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 to worry about whether he wants to be free, and he will not free himself.

Born in London, Chesterton attended art school and aspired to become an illustrator. Raised as an Anglican, he converted to Catholicism in 1922.

He is the also creator of the mystery stories featuring the priest-detective Father Brown.