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
A man's physical hunger does not prove that man will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way, though I do not believe (I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses the relationship between desire and existence, suggesting that our longing for something indicates its potential existence, even if we may not attain it ourselves.
C. S. Lewis reflects on the nature of human desire and its relationship to reality. He compares physical hunger, which does not guarantee access to food, to the spiritual longing for Paradise. While one may not believe in their ability to reach such a state, the very existence of desire implies that there is something beyond our current experience. Essentially, our aspirations and yearnings may signal the existence of higher truths or states of being, even if many do not themselves achieve them.
Themes
DesireExistenceAspirationLongingParadise
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the human experience, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of aspirations.
More from C. S. Lewis
All quotes →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.
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
Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
Charles KingsleyRead
The material body has a practical reality that is accessible. It is here and now, and we can do something with it. However, we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself.
B.K.S. IyengarRead
The bulls are my best friends." I translated to Brett. "You kill your friends?" she asked. "Always," he said in English, and laughed. "So they don't kill me.
Ernest HemingwayRead
The joke of our time is the suicide of intention.
Theodor AdornoRead
You're only infallible about your own nervous system. You know what's going on in your own nervous system, whatever realities you're creating out of the infinite flux of being. You don't know anything about anybody else's reality unless they tell you about it. You gotta listen very sympathetically in order to understand them. So it's a limited infallibility.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
Adults are only obsolete children.
Dr. SeussRead