"Are you a devil?" "I am a man," answered Father Brown gravely; "and therefore have all devils in my heart."

All things are from God; and above all, reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind. They are good in themselves; and we must not altogether forget their origin even in their perversion.

Journalism only tells us what men are doing; it is fiction that tells us what they are thinking, and still more what they are feeling. If a new scientific theory finds the soul of a man in his dreams, at least it ought not to leave out his day-dreams. And all fiction is only a diary of day-dreams instead of days. And this profound preoccupation of men's minds with certain things always eventually has an effect even on the external expression of the age.

humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle

I have little doubt that when St. George had killed the dragon he was heartily afraid of the princess.

Every politician is emphatically a promising politician.

Most Americans are born drunk, and really require a little wine or beer to sober them.