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
Real joy seems to me almost as unlike security or prosperity as it is unlike agony.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True joy is distinct from both material wealth and severe suffering.
In this quote, C. S. Lewis expresses the idea that genuine joy is a profound experience that stands apart from mere feelings of safety or affluence, and it also differs fundamentally from pain or agony. Joy transcends these concepts, suggesting that it is a deeper and more fulfilling state of being that comes from within, rather than from external circumstances.
Themes
JoyHappinessSecurityProsperitySuffering
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about finding true happiness beyond material possessions.
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.
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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
Today, let us swim wildly, joyously in gratitude.
RumiRead
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.
Henri NouwenRead
In every part and corner of our life, to lose oneself is to be a gainer; to forget oneself is to be happy.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
To enjoy anything, we cannot be attached to it... What we usually try to do is capture any joy that comes our way before it can escape... We try to cling to pleasure, but all we succeed in doing is making ourselves frustrated because, whatever it promises, pleasure simply cannot last. But if I am willing to kiss the joy as it flies, I say, "Yes, this moment is beautiful. I won't grab it. I'll let it go."
Eknath EaswaranRead
And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy.
Whoopi GoldbergRead
Happiness implied a choice, and within that choice a concerted will, a lucid desire.
Albert CamusRead