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
There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the idea that all aspects of existence are contested and influenced by divine and malevolent forces.
C. S. Lewis expresses a dichotomy in the universe, indicating that there is no area where one can remain indifferent or disengaged. Every moment and every place is affected by the ongoing struggle between good and evil, suggesting that our choices and beliefs shape the reality around us.
Themes
UniverseGoodEvilChoiceDivineInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a sermon to highlight the importance of active faith.
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.
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
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The wicked exist in this world either to be converted or that through them the good may exercise patience.
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Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. Sometimes it does. But the danger is, that while a man grows better pleased with himself, he may be growing less pleasing to others. Wine gives a man nothing. It neither gives him knowledge nor wit; it only animates a man, and enables him to bring out what a dread of the company has presented.
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If a witch needs something, another witch will give it to her. If there is war to be fought, we don't consider cost one of the factors in deciding whether or not it is right to fight. Nor do we have any notion of honor. An insult to a bear is a deadly thing. To us...inconceivable. How could you insult a witch? What would it matter if you did?
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We had stretched out our arms to each other and supported something in our joined hands, but this thing we were holding was like a sort of gas that exists when you believe in its existence and disappears when you doubt. The task of supporting it seems simple at first glance, but actually requires an ultimate refinement of calculation and a consummate skill.
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It is both humiliating and humbling to discover that a single generation after the events that constructed me as a public personality, I am remembered as a hairdo.
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Everything is autobiography, even if one writes something that is totally objective. The fact that it's a subject that seizes you makes it autobiographical.
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