“Q: What's wrong with the world? A: I am.”

—  G. K. Chesterton

Purportedly a response by Chesterton to the question posed around 1910 by the Times of London (along with other luminaries), but biographer Kevin Belmonte, in 'Defiant Joy: the Remarkable Life & Impact of G.K. Chesterton', was unable to verify. Belmonte surmises its origin in an anecdote that while writing What's Wrong with the World (told in the book's preface), he would delight in telling society ladies that "I have been doing 'What is Wrong' all this morning." http://books.google.com/books?id=1rsXvfW2aiEC
Misattributed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Q: What's wrong with the world? A: I am." by G. K. Chesterton?
G. K. Chesterton photo
G. K. Chesterton 229
English mystery novelist and Christian apologist 1874–1936

Related quotes

Marshall McLuhan photo

“Q: Why is America the land of the overrated child and the underrated adult? Q: How can children grow up in a world in which adults idolize youthfulness? Q: What happens when the ad makers taker over all the popular myths and poetry?”

Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …

Source: 1990s and beyond, The Book of Probes : Marshall McLuhan (2011), p. 141

Oscar Wilde photo

“I am a born antinomian. I am one of those who are made for exceptions, not for laws. But while I see that there is nothing wrong in what one does, I see that there is something wrong in what one becomes.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

Source: De Profundis and Other Writings

“I hopehaven't given up on the S. Q.'s of the world, Reynie. As you see, there are a great many sheep in wolves' clothing. If not for S. Q.'s good nature, we'd never have escaped.”

Trenton Lee Stewart The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

Source: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

Prem Rawat photo

“Q: What would you say to Bin Laden and George Bush?
A: I have to look at them as human beings. What one person had done for the world, is terrible, but for my perspective … if it was morning I would say "good morning" and if it was afternoon I would say, "good afternoon"
Q:That's all?
A: That's all. It is not my place to judge them.
Q: Thank you very much, Maharaji.”

Prem Rawat (1957) controversial spiritual leader

"In Conversation", TV interview by Rajiv Mehrotra, Doordarshan Television News, India, 3 March 2006.
2000s

Viktor Yanukovych photo

“I supported the ostriches, what's wrong with that? They just lived there. What am I supposed to do, go around with my eyes closed?”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

Source: "Viktor Yanukovych accepts blame for Ukraine bloodshed, defends zoo" in The Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/world/viktor-yanukovych-accepts-blame-for-ukraine-bloodshed-defends-zoo-at-his-residence-20150623-ghvvj9.html (24 June 2015)

Henry Miller photo

“There's nothing wrong with the world. What's wrong is our way of looking at it.”

Henry Miller book Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch

Source: Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957), p. 351

Jerry Herman photo

“I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world and it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a damn till you can say
Hey world I am what I am.”

Jerry Herman (1931–2019) American composer and lyricist

"I Am What I Am," from La Cage aux Folles (1983) http://www.bassey.co.uk/blog/shirley_bassey/2006_08_07_peggyblog.html

Ben Gibbard photo

“I am waiting for something to go wrong
I am waiting for familiar resolve”

Ben Gibbard (1976) American singer, songwriter and guitarist

Expo '86
Transatlanticism (2003)

Sören Kierkegaard photo

“I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world?”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Voice: Young Man
1840s, Repetition (1843)
Context: One sticks one’s finger into the soil to tell by the smell in what land one is: I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world? Why was I not consulted, why not made acquainted with its manners and customs instead of throwing me into the ranks, as if I had been bought by a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did I obtain an interest in this big enterprise they call reality? Why should I have an interest in it? Is it not a voluntary concern? And if I am to be compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I should like to make a remark to him. Is there no director? Whither shall I turn with my complaint?

Related topics