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
One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When that desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The pursuit of knowledge is a fundamental part of being human.
C. S. Lewis emphasizes the intrinsic human desire to seek knowledge and understand reality, suggesting that this pursuit is a defining characteristic of humanity. When an individual no longer embodies this curiosity, they become, in essence, diminished in their humanity, losing a vital connection to what it means to be alive and aware.
Themes
KnowledgeCuriosityHumanityUnderstandingReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of education and lifelong learning, you could use this quote to highlight the significance of curiosity.
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.
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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.
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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
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Similar quotes
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.
Ayn RandRead
I stood checked for a moment - awe, not fear, fell upon me - and whist I stood, a solemn wind began to blow, the most mournful that ever ear heard. Mournful! That is saying nothing. It was a wind that had swept the fields of mortality for a hundred centuries.
Thomas De QuinceyRead
All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States - and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!
Kurt VonnegutRead
But I think the spirit of man is a good adversary
Tennessee WilliamsRead
The world was conquered through the understanding of dogs; the world exists through the understanding of dogs.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
How can you do the right thing when you can't figure out what that is? When all you have before you are choices in various shades of wrong?
Neal ShustermanRead