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By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result?
C. S. Lewis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Arguing stimulates a person's reasoning ability, which can lead to unpredictable outcomes.

In this quote, C. S. Lewis suggests that engaging in an argument has the power to awaken a person's critical thinking and reasoning skills. This awakening can lead to unforeseen and varied outcomes, potentially transforming the individual’s perspective or belief based on a reasoned examination rather than mere acceptance.

Themes

ArguingReasonOutcomeThoughtEngagement

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate club meeting to emphasize the importance of reasoned arguments.

More from C. S. Lewis

A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.
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I enjoyed my breakfast this morning, and I think that was a good thing and do not think it was condemned by God. But I do not think myself a good man for enjoying it.
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
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Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
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I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. It doesn't change God - it changes me.
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The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred
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