80 quotes
They died to save their country and they only saved the world.
The object of a religion or a philosophy is not to make men wealthy or powerful, but to make them, in the last issue, happy: that is, to fulfil their being.
Survivals and New Arrivals: The Old and New Enemies of the Catholic Church (1929)
The Economic definition of Wealth is subtle and difficult to appreciate, but it is absolutely essential to our study to get it clear at the outset and keep it firmly in mind.
Economics for Helen (1924)
Wealth, for the purposes of economic study, is confined to those values attaching to material objects through the action of man, which values can be exchanged for other values.
Economics for Helen (1924)
Is there no Latin word for Tea? Upon my soul, if I had known that I would have left the vulgar stuff alone.
Man may […] be master of his fate, but he has a precious poor servant. It is easier to command a lapdog or a mule for a whole day than one's own fate for half-an-hour.
The Path to Rome (1902)
Of courtesy it is much less
Than courage of heart or holiness
Yet in my walks it seems to me
That the Grace of God is in courtesy.
Verses (1910)
The world is full of double beds
And most delightful maidenheads,
Which being so, there’s no excuse
For sodomy or self-abuse.
I have noticed that this kind of fanatic, like every other kind, is in two species: the species which too clearly thinks out its own insane theory, and the species which remains perfectly muddle-headed.
The Cruise of the 'Nona (1925)
For the line of cleavage does not fall between the various groups, Catholic, Agnostic, Evangelical, or what not, but between the Catholic Church and all else. She is unique, and at issue with the world.
Survivals and New Arrivals: The Old and New Enemies of the Catholic Church (1929)
In a word, the Barbarian is discoverable everywhere in this that he cannot make; that he can befog or destroy, but that he cannot sustain; and of every Barbarian in the decline or peril of every civilisation exactly that has been true.
This and That and the Other (1912)
The Llama is a wooly sort of fleecy hairy goat,
With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
Like an unsuccessful literary man.
More Beasts for Worse Children (1897)
Oh! let us never, never doubt
What nobody is sure about!
More Beasts for Worse Children (1897)
When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
'His sins were scarlet, But his books were read'.
Hilaire Belloc (1925)
When the ephemeral vision's lure is past
All, all, must face their Passion at the last.
An Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine (1932)
'… and as to what may be in this book, do not feel timid nor hesitate to enter. There are more mountains than molehills …'
The Path to Rome (1902)
I shoot the Hippopotamus
With bullets made of platinum,
Because if I use leaden ones
His hide is sure to flatten 'em.
The Bad Child's Book of Beasts (1896)
All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.
The Silence Of The Sea and Other Essays (1940)
The moment a man talks to his fellows he begins to lie.
The Silence Of The Sea and Other Essays (1940)
Child! Do not throw this book about;
Refrain from the unholy pleasure
Of cutting all the pictures out!
Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.
Verses (1910)