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
In the moral sphere, every act of justice or charity involves putting ourselves in the other person's place and thus transcending our own competitive particularity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding others in moral actions.
C. S. Lewis highlights that true justice and charity require us to step outside of our own perspectives and consider the experiences and feelings of others. By doing so, we can rise above our instinctive competitiveness and become more compassionate and fair individuals.
Themes
EmpathyJusticeCharityUnderstandingPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of empathy in community service.
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
Labor is the curse of the world, and nobody can meddle with it without becoming proportionately brutalized.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
We try to think with 'and' rather than 'or.' It doesn't have to be healthy or tasty. It can be healthy and tasty. It can be wholesome and convenient.
Daniel LubetzkyRead
The car has become an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete in the urban compound.
Marshall McluhanRead
The love of liberty that is not a real principle of dutiful behavior to authority is as hypocritical as the religion that is not productive of a good life.
Joseph ButlerRead
Most of the great books on prayer are written by 'experts' - monks, missionaries, mystics, saints. I've read scores of them, and mainly they make me feel guilty.
Philip YanceyRead
No man can be subject to any laws, excepting those which have received the assent of himself or his representatives and which are promulgated beforehand and applied legally.
Marquis De LafayetteRead