G. K. Chesterton

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English essayist, journalist and poet. He was called the "metaphysical journalist" because unlike most of his peers, he did not avoid discussing philosophy -- in fact, he relished it.

He is certainly one of the most prolific writers in history, with more than 100 books, contributions to more than 200 other books, five novels, five plays, hundreds of poems, nearly 200 short stories, and more than 4,000 essays. He is the author of the famous poem Ballad of the White Horse, as well as the popular "Father Brown" detective series.

What he is most famous for, however, is his thinking and his wit. He had an uncanny ability to get to the heart of any controversy, and had the courage to expose hypocrisy wherever he saw it. He was a staunch Catholic in an intellectual world of atheists and agnostics. He lacked a formal college education, yet was able to engage social history, politics, philosophy, religion and ethics with a brilliance that most often exceeded that of professional academics in those fields. He was essentially the intellectual version of the "self-made man," a type of personality of which the world has seen far too few.

The influence he has had is one of the mysteries of modern culture -- because while he was one of the primary influences on people like Lewis and Ghandi, he is hardly mentioned today, and largely unknown to the average reader -- despite the fact that virtually everything he penned was written for the average reader.

Etienne Gilson called him "the deepest thinker who ever existed," and while this may be overstating the case somewhat, even a casual perusal of his work will reveal why Gilson (himself a renowned scholar) would make such a comment. I invite you to find out for yourself. Below are some of his public domain writings:

What's Wrong with the World Today

The Man Who Was Thursday

The Everlasting Man

Heretics

Orthodoxy

A nearly complete list of Chesterton's writings on the web can be found at The G. K. Chesterton Library

Background information and selections of his writings can be found at The American Chesterton Society