The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. - Page 242

Take no thought what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall 140 be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. - Page 161

Tis not in mortals to command success, But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it. - Page 133

Do not accuse me of fond folly for this line ; you know I am a cool lover. I mean by these presents greeting, to let you to wit, that archrascal Creech has not done my business yesternight, which has put off my leaving town till Monday morning. - Page 51

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. - Page 62

It is evidently impossible to worship humanity, just as it is impossible to worship the Savile Club; both are excellent institutions to which we may happen to belong. But we perceive clearly that the Savile Club did not make the stars and does not fill the universe. And it is surely unreasonable to attack the doctrine of the Trinity as a piece of bewildering mysticism, and then to ask men to worship a being who is ninety million persons in one God, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the... - Page 143

There is one metaphor of which the moderns are very fond; they are always saying, "You can't put the clock back." The simple and obvious answer is "You can." A clock, being a piece of human construction, can be restored by the human finger to any figure or hour. In the same way society, being a piece of human construction, can be reconstructed upon any plan that has ever existed. - Page 239

The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes, But Here or There as strikes the Player goes; And He that toss'd you down into the Field, He knows about it all - HE knows - HE knows! - Page 147

The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good. It is full of wild and wasted virtues. When a religious scheme is shattered (as Christianity was shattered at the Eeformation), it is not merely the vices that are let loose. The vices are, indeed, let loose, and they wander and do damage. But the virtues are let loose also; and the virtues wander more wildly, and the virtues do more terrible damage. The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues... - Page 20

But all conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. - Page 77