“Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.”

— G. K. Chesterton , book All Things Considered

"Spiritualism"
All Things Considered (1908)
Context: It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a man should fall down. No one sees anything funny in a tree falling down. No one sees a delicate absurdity in a stone falling down. No man stops in the road and roars with laughter at the sight of the snow coming down. The fall of thunderbolts is treated with some gravity. The fall of roofs and high buildings is taken seriously. It is only when a man tumbles down that we laugh. Why do we laugh? Because it is a grave religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.

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G. K. Chesterton 229

English mystery novelist and Christian apologist 1874–1936

Ronald Knox (1888–1957) English priest and theologian

Essays in Satire, Introduction (1928)

“Man can act only because he can ignore.”

Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French poet, essayist, and philosopher

Socrates, p. 124
Eupalinos ou l'architecte (1921)

“Our governance is by a gerontocracy. This cataract of history can only be removed by youth. In this common man's century, only the common man can change the profile of this country.”

Baba Amte (1914–2008) Indian freedom fighter, social worker

On Governance
Baba Amte's Words of Wisdom

“Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it. It is obviously impossible to get around it, jump over it, or simply avoid it.”

Václav Havel book Disturbing the Peace

Source: Disturbing the Peace (1986), Ch. 2 : Writing for the Stage

“Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

The Critic as Artist (1891), Part I

“That soul that can
Be honest is the only perfect man.”

John Fletcher The Honest Man's Fortune

Epilogue. Compare: "An honest man's the noblest work of God", Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, epistle iv. line 248.
The Honest Man's Fortune, (1613; published 1647)