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.
C. S. LewisRead
The 'frankness' of people sunk below shame is a very cheap frankness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Candidness that lacks moral restraint is worthless.
C. S. Lewis suggests that when individuals express their thoughts and feelings without regard for decency or shame, their honesty loses its value. True frankness is rooted in an understanding of dignity and restraint; thus, when people disregard these values, their openness can become superficial and devoid of meaning.
Themes
HonestyShameFranknessValuesDecency
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on moral integrity among friends.
More from C. S. Lewis
All quotes βI 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.
C. S. LewisRead
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
C. S. LewisRead
Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
C. S. LewisRead
I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. It doesn't change God - it changes me.
C. S. LewisRead
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
C. S. LewisRead
Similar quotes
Vanity destroys your work. That's the one thing you have to let go of as an actor. I don't care how sexy or beautiful any woman is. At the end of the day, she has to take her makeup off. At the end of the day, she's more than just pretty.
Viola DavisRead
Blame is just a lazy person's way of making sense of chaos.
Douglas CouplandRead
Sin is hell, grace is heaven; what madness it is to look more at hell than heaven.
Thomas BrooksRead
I think there is a sense of being forced at this time to look at America's really large shadow and that's not all that bad.
Alice WalkerRead
It is natural to give a clear view of the world after accepting the idea that it must be clear.
Albert CamusRead
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
Richard DawkinsRead