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
I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back til you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot 'develop' into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, 'with backward mutters of dissevering power' --or else not.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Choosing the wrong path doesn't mean all is lost; rescue requires returning to the point of error to correct it.
C. S. Lewis emphasizes that making mistakes is inherent to the human experience, and simply moving forward without addressing the original error can lead to further misguidance. True healing or correction comes from revisiting the past, identifying where things went awry, and then consciously working to correct the trajectory, rather than hoping time alone will fix the damage done by those choices.
Themes
ChoicesErrorCorrectionHealingPhilosophyRedemption
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during personal development workshops to encourage attendees to reflect on their past mistakes.
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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