Quotes from G. K. Chesterton's books, and about them
The Napoleon of Notting Hill on Iliad: “This one poor rhymster, having burnt his own rhymes, began to live that life of open air and acted poetry of which all the poets of the earth have dreamed in vain; the life for which the Iliad is only a cheap substitute.”
Orthodoxy on Robinson Crusoe: “another book always read in boyhood, "Robinson Crusoe," which I read about this time, and which owes its eternal vivacity to the fact that it celebrates the poetry of limits”
Orthodoxy on Henry V: “But being outside patriotism he is outside "Henry V."”
Orthodoxy on Sleeping Beauty: “There is the terrible allegory of the "Sleeping Beauty," which tells how the human creature was blessed with all birthday gifts, yet cursed with death”
Orthodoxy on Cinderella: “There is the lesson of "Cinderella," which is the same as that of the Magnificat-- EXALTAVIT HUMILES.”
Orthodoxy on Jack the Giant Killer: “There is the chivalrous lesson of "Jack the Giant Killer"; that giants should be killed because they are gigantic.”
Orthodoxy on Beauty and the Beast: “There is the great lesson of "Beauty and the Beast"; that a thing must be loved BEFORE it is loveable.”
Orthodoxy on Vie de Jeanne d'Arc: “It is called "Jeanne d'Arc," by Anatole France. I have only glanced at it, but a glance was enough to remind me of Renan's "Vie de Jesus."”