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
Remember, he is not, like you, a pure spirit. Never having been a human (Oh that abominable advantage of the Enemy's) you don't realize how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
C. S. Lewis emphasizes the burdens of humanity and the limitations that come with being human.
In this quote, C. S. Lewis contrasts the nature of purely spiritual beings with that of humans, highlighting the struggles and limitations humans face in their everyday lives. He suggests that those who have never experienced the human condition cannot fully comprehend the pressures and challenges that come with it, indicating a form of empathy that is often absent in purely spiritual entities.
Themes
HumanitySpiritualityPressureOrdinaryEmpathy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the challenges of being human, this quote can highlight the struggles we face.
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
The Way is hidden and nameless. Still only the Way nourishes and completes.
LaoziRead
If September 11th has taught us anything, it's certainly that the world has never been so interdependent. It is impossible now to be an island of prosperity in a sea of despair.
BonoRead
For pain words are lacking. There should be cries, cracks, fissures, whiteness passing over chintz covers, interference with the sense of time, of space ; the sense also of extreme fixity in passing objects ; and sounds very remote and then very close ; flesh being gashed and blood sparting, a joint suddenly twisted - beneath all of which appears something very important, yet remote, to be just held in solitude.” — Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Virginia WoolfRead
How sickness enlarges the dimensions of a man's self to himself! Supreme selfishness is inculcated upon him as his only duty.
Charles LambRead
Whiteness in a racist, corporate-controlled society is like having the image of an American Express Cardstamped on one's face: immediately you are “universally accepted.”
Manning MarableRead
Perhaps the enemies of liberty are such only because they judge it by its loud voice.
Jose MartiRead