Other Quotations

Quotations which might seem to be from Chesterton, but aren’t:

If a man is not a socialist by the time he’s 20, he has no heart. If he’s still a socialist when he’s 40, he has no mind.

It’s not from Chesterton. It’s not from Churchill. It’s not from Wendell Wilkie. But we don’t know who it’s from.

A man knocking on the door of a brothel is knocking for God.

Variously ascribed to Chesterton, St. Francis, and St. Augustine, we have discovered that the only documented source of this quotation is the book The World, The Flesh, and Father Smith by Bruce Marshall (1945) And the quote is really: “. . .the young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God.” (p. 108)

A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.

This quotation was attributed to Chesterton on the television show, “Northern Exposure.” However, it is not by Chesterton, but by the late French Playwright, Jacques Duval. Unfortunately, we do not have a citation. If anyone knows it, please let us know.

A small man will cast a long shadow at sunset.

The variation of this quotation is “When a small man casts a long shadow darkness is near.” We don’t have a source but we have this from the Forward to The Wit and Wisdom of Spiro T. Agnew by David Dinnerstein (1969): ” . . . to paraphrase Nathaniel Lee, that when small men cast large shadows, it’s a sure sign that the sun is setting.” Lee (1649-1692) was an English playwright. (Thanks to Dan Bloch for providing this citation.)

Quotations which might still be by Chesterton, but we still haven’t found them:

“The Catholic Church is like a thick steak, a glass of red wine, and a good cigar.”

Along the same lines, Chesterton supposedly said what drew him to the faith was the fact that “the pipe, the pint, and the cross could all fit together” within the worldview of Catholic sensibility.

Our best guess so far is that they’re by Hilaire Belloc, but we have no citations.