Democracy of the Dead (and other pithy sayings)

Last night in HS502, our last lecture was a blend of two topics, both of which were fascinating to me.

The first was about the Materialist worldview which flourished in the latter 19th century. More on that in an upcoming post. I need to think on that some more.

The second half was about a group of (mostly) British writers in the early 1900s called "The Inklings", whose work reacted against the Materialist worldview. Their best known members were J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. While these two are the most famous, a contemporary of theirs, G.K. Chesterton, was also a prolific and accomplished writer.

Chesterton had a way with the turn of a phrase. He often pops up in Google's "quote of the day", and rightly so. His sayings contain a key truth, but communicate it in an off-kilter or gently satiric way. Here's a sample:

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around."

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; 

it has been found difficult and left untried."

"Women are the only realists; their whole object in life is to pit their realism against the extravagant, excessive, and occasionally drunken idealism of men."

Clever stuff, and true.

There is an organization devoted to his work, based here in town, with chapters all over. From their website, I learned that the local one meets the last Tuesday of each month at the University Club on Summit. Nice. I think I'll go in June. :)