“ A feeling touching the nature of things does not only make men feel that there are certain proper things to say; it makes them feel that there are certain proper things to do. ”
G. K. Chesterton, Heretics (1905). copy citation
Author | G. K. Chesterton |
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Source | Heretics |
Topic | feelings feeling |
Date | 1905 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/470/470-h/470-h.htm |
Context
“He saw the falsehood of that almost universal notion of to-day, the notion that rites and forms are something artificial, additional, and corrupt. Ritual is really much older than thought; it is much simpler and much wilder than thought. A feeling touching the nature of things does not only make men feel that there are certain proper things to say; it makes them feel that there are certain proper things to do. The more agreeable of these consist of dancing, building temples, and shouting very loud; the less agreeable, of wearing green carnations and burning other philosophers alive. But everywhere the religious dance came before the religious hymn, and man was a ritualist before he could speak.”
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