It is very currently suggested that the modern man is the heir of all the ages, that he has got the good out of these successive human experiments. I know not what to say in answer to this, except to ask the reader to look at the modern man, as I have just looked at the modern manâ€”in the looking-glass. Is it really true that you and I are two starry towers built up of all the most towering visions of the past?

G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton

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White founts falling in the courts of the sun, / And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run.

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There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book, and a tired man who wants a book to read.

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The pure modernist is merely a snob; he cannot bear to be a month behind the fashion.

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I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill himâ€“only to bring him to life.

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The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I still felt depressed even in acquiescence. But I had heard that I was in the wrong place, and my soul sang for joy like a bird in spring.

— G.K. Chesterton