Great Wits is Oft to Madness Near Allied (Dryden)
Currently Reading:
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton [?]
A couple of my friends are big G.K. Chesterton fans, so I eventually got around to reading some of his stuff. An amazing thinker and writer, although apparently he could barely read at age 9. When interviewed and asked which one book he would take should he be stranded on a desert island he replied: "Why, A Practical Guide to Ship Building of course". When the London Times asked a number of writers to reply on the question "What is wrong with the world?" Chesterton had by far the shortest reply: Dear Sirs
Some other famous quotes are ?:
I am.
Sincerely Yours,
G.K. Chesteron"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried".
The book Orthodoxy deals with Chesterton's defense of his philosophy and his faith. One idea that really struck me was Chesterton's discussion on logic versus mysticism. That is, the idea of trying to clearly understand everything in this world via logic, versus allowing and embracing the mystery and fantasy of our world.
Standing between 300-400lbs Chesterton was deemed physically unfit for service in World War I. One time an elderley woman bluntly demanded "Why aren't you out at the front?" to which Chesterton replied "My dear madam, if you step round this way a little, you will see that I am."
This topic was of immediate interest to me. I am someone who has typically placed great value on thinking logically. My major and minor (computer science and philosophy, respectively) further cultivated that logical inclination. Chesterton brings up some stunning analogies showing the limitations, even the dangers, of the logical man who cannot accept the mystery/fantasy of the world. He argues that madmen aren't those who have lost their reason, but rather those who have lost all but their reason. It is mystery and mysticism that keeps a man sane and healthy Chesteron argues. One particuarly enjoyable section reads: The general fact is simple. Poetry is sane beacuse it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion... To accept everything is an exercise, to understand everythign a strain. The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.
THAT is an extremely interesting thought that I will have to brood on some more as I continue on in this book.
1 comment:
Hi Allan, it's Ross. I enjoyed this very much, being one of the big Chesterton fans mentioned (I think). What GKC says about reason is one of the things I remember most vividly, and I think it's interesting that Chesterton is actually both highly logical and highly fanciful. His fiction writing is very creative, but often ruled by logic-- in that over half of his fiction is detective stories. He'd probably say you needed both, but that pure reason is more dangerous than pure creativity, because the trap that is easy to fall into is that reason can answer every question, when it can't.
GKC was a big admirer of Thomas Aquinas who was a big fan of Aristotle, who was all about finding a greater glory in the world through reason. I'd like to read more of both of them.
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