Words of Wisdom — March 4, 2015

G.K. Chesterton: False Theorists Endanger Human Reason

“There is no great harm in the theorist who makes up a new theory to fit a new event. But the theorist who starts with a false theory and then sees everything as making it come true is the most dangerous enemy of human reason.”

bigthinkeditor

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English man-of-letters and political thinker known as the “prince of paradox” in reference to his unique writing style and employment of clever figurative language. Chesterton was an early and vocal critic of eugenics as well as a prolific satirist, Christian apologist, and biographer. His biography of Charles Dickens in 1906 is widely regarded as a major reason for Dickens’ lasting popularity. Chesterton has been regarded as a major influence on 20th century writers of both fiction and non-fiction ranging from Jorge Luis Borges to Neil Gaiman to Slavoj Žižek.

“There is no great harm in the theorist who makes up a new theory to fit a new event. But the theorist who starts with a false theory and then sees everything as making it come true is the most dangerous enemy of human reason.”

Source: Flying Inn (1914) via Wikiquote

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