An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.

Chesterton’s aphorism turns on a deliberate reversal: the external facts of a mishap and of an “adventure” may be identical, but the story we tell about them changes their meaning. An “inconvenience” is framed as mere obstruction—time lost, comfort denied—while an “adventure” is the same disruption interpreted as narrative, risk, and possibility. The line reflects Chesterton’s broader habit of defending wonder, romance, and gratitude against modern boredom and complaint: the world becomes larger when one chooses a more imaginative, courageous perspective. It also hints at moral agency—how we judge events is partly our responsibility, not only a passive reaction to circumstance.