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
Good and evil both increase at compound interest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Both good actions and evil actions grow exponentially over time.
C. S. Lewis's quote suggests that the consequences of both good and evil deeds compound over time, much like compound interest. This implies that the effects of our actions can increase dramatically, reinforcing the idea that our choices have significant, lasting impacts in the world.
Themes
GoodEvilCompound InterestChoicesConsequences
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on morality, one might use the quote to highlight the long-term effects of our actions.
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.
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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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Our allegiance is to the principles always, and not to the persons. Persons are but the embodiments, the illustrations of the principles. If the principles are there, the persons will come by the thousands and millions. If the principle is safe, persons like Buddha will be born by the hundreds and thousands. But if the principle is lost and forgotten and the whole of national life tries to cling round a so-called historical person, woe unto that religion, danger unto that religion!
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Metaphysics abstracts the mind from the senses, and the poetic faculty must submerge the whole mind in the senses. Metaphysics soars up to universals, and the poetic faculty must plunge deep into particulars.
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I have always struggled, with the sole intention of ceasing to struggle. Result: zero.
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The nationalist has a broad hatred and a narrow love.
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We don't have a right to ask whether we're going to succeed or not. The only question we have a right to ask is what's the right thing to do? What does this earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it?
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Luck is not the hand of God.... Luck is the way the wind swirls and the dust settles eons after God has passed by.
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