Chesterton having fun

I think Chesterton had fun every time he picked up a pen, no matter how weighty the subject, but sometimes his wordplay is so imbued with a combination of wisdom and wit that it approaches the sublime!

The man who is content to say “We do not want theologians splitting hairs,” will doubtless be content to go on and say, “We do not want surgeons splitting filaments more delicate than hairs.” It is the fact that many a man would be dead today, if his doctors had not debated the fine shades about doctoring. It is also the fact that European civilization would be dead today, if its doctors of divinity had not debated fine shades about doctrine.
– The Resurrection of Rome Via this post.