G.K. Chesterton

G.K.

Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer known for essays, novels, and the Father Brown detective stories.

His style combined wit, paradox, and Catholic apologetics.

Chesterton remains quotable for lines like A thing worth doing is worth doing badly and When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing—they believe in anything (often misattributed).

The initials stand for Gilbert Keith.

paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
Father BrownPriest who solves mysteries
detectiveProfessional crime investigator
CatholicPapal church adherent
Catholic convertOne who embraced Rome

apologetics · wit · essays · London · Victorian · journalist · cigar · cape · rotund · whimsy · Fleet Street · conversion · mystery · inklings · quotable · epigram · jolly · providence

Opposites

religious-philosophical stance

G.K. ChestertonBertrand Russell

H.G. Wells · George Bernard Shaw · Friedrich Nietzsche · Voltaire · A.J. Ayer

literary-intellectual style

G.K. ChestertonThomas Hardy

Victorian novelist and poet

Samuel Beckett · cynics · nihilists · pessimists · rationalists

political-economic philosophy

G.K. ChestertonKarl Marx

John D. Rockefeller · Andrew Carnegie · socialist · collectivist · monopolist

Family

Chester, Chesterton

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G