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
If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that self-awareness is crucial in recognizing one's own flaws, particularly conceit.
C. S. Lewis highlights the irony of self-deception through this quote, pointing out that individuals who consider themselves humble may actually possess a deeper level of conceit. True humility requires introspection and acknowledgment of one's limitations, while those unable to do so may be blinded by their own arrogance.
Themes
ConceitHumilitySelf-AwarenessPrideIrony
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about self-awareness at a leadership seminar.
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
And he wishes, in the cold quiet of his archer's heart, that he himself could feel the intensity of their reconciliations as strongly as he feels that of their battles.
David Foster WallaceRead
Way back in the 1970s, I was eating a steak, and I looked down, and for the first time it suddenly looked like flesh to me - like a dead creature. In a flash, I realized that every time I ate any kind of meat, something had been killed for me, and I stopped eating all animals, not just cows and pigs but chickens and fish.
Joanna LumleyRead
Like and equal are not the same thing at all. -- Meg Murray
Madeleine L'EngleRead
Spires whose "silent finger points to heaven."
William WordsworthRead
There is no inherent awakening power in cultural forms that have become dissociated from the wisdom and practicality that gave birth to them. They turn into illusions themselves and become part of the drama of religious culture. Although they can make us happy temporarily, they can't free us from suffering, so at some point, they become a source of disappointment and discouragement. Eventually, these forms may inspire nothing more than resistance to their authority.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
The man who fights for his fellow-man is a better man than the one who fights for himself.
Clarence DarrowRead