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
A sign of a culture that has lost its faith - Moral collapse follows upon spiritual collapse.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a decline in spiritual beliefs leads to a deterioration of moral standards in society.
C. S. Lewis highlights the idea that when a culture loses its spiritual foundation, the moral fabric of that culture begins to fray. This moral collapse can manifest in various ways, impacting individuals and communities as ethical values are abandoned, leading to a society that may struggle with principles of right and wrong. The connection between spirituality and morality suggests that faith and belief systems play a crucial role in guiding human behavior and societal norms.
Themes
CultureFaithMoralitySpiritualityCollapse
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of faith in maintaining ethical standards in society.
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
You have to be very careful. If you over-commercialize a social mission, it completely loses its soul.
Daniel LubetzkyRead
Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it.
Terry PratchettRead
Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. . . .
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
I have observed that society in general always seems to honor its living conformists and its dead troublemakers.
Wayne DyerRead
When a man sees something desirable, he must reflect on the fact that with time it could come to involve what is detestable. When he sees something that is beneficial, he should reflect that sooner or later it, too, could come to involve harm.
XunziRead
Where there is no imagination there is no horror.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead