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
All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that individuals judge themselves by their own moral standards, leading to a universal sense of guilt among humanity.
C. S. Lewis's quote emphasizes that moral judgment is intrinsic and personal rather than imposed externally. It highlights that every person holds themselves accountable according to their own ethical beliefs, resulting in a shared experience of guilt that transcends cultural or societal norms. This universality of conscience reveals a deeper aspect of human nature and moral responsibility.
Themes
GuiltEthicsMoralityConscienceHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal responsibility and ethics, this quote can illustrate the burden of self-judgment.
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
Human beings have neither kindness, nor faith, nor charity beyond what serves to increase the pleasure of the moment.
Virginia WoolfRead
Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt
JuvenalRead
The poor is the center of the Gospel. If we take out the poor, we cannot understand the message of Christ
Pope FrancisRead
Racism and sexism are not "problems" or "topics." They are ways of defining reality and living our lives that most of us learned along with learning how to tie our shoes and how to drink from a cup.
Paula RothenbergRead
It’s a sort of furtiveness … Like we were a generation of furtive. You know, with an inner knowledge there’s no use flaunting on that level, the level of the ‘public’, a kind of beatness – I mean, being right down to it, to ourselves, because we all really know where we are – and a weariness with all the forms, all the conventions of the world … It’s something like that. So I guess you might say we’re a beat generation.
Jack KerouacRead
Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.
Norman BorlaugRead