Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!
“Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!”
— C.S. Lewis · Religion
The World Motivation
Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!
“Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!”
— C.S. Lewis · Religion
Explore more quotes by C.S. Lewis on topics like Religion, wisdom, and life lessons.
“Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!”
“Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for a moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be right when He thinks that their modest prosperity and the happiness of their children are not enough to make them blessed: that all this must fall from them in the end, and if they have not learned to know Him they will be wretched. And therefore He troubles them, warning them in advance of an insufficiency that one day they will have to discover. The life to themselves and their families stands between them and the recognition of their need; He makes that life less sweet to them.”
“The death of a beloved is an amputation.”
“Human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to believe in a certain way, and can't really get rid of it.”
“For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”
“All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the politician, and ridiculous to the philosopher.”
“I could never work out whether we were to view religion as a life-insurance policy or a life sentence. I can understand a wrathful God who'd just as soon dangle us all from a hook. And I can understand a tender, unprejudiced Jesus. But I could never quite feature the two of them living in the same house. You wind up walking on eggshells, never knowing which... is at home at the moment.”
“I now believe successful criminal and civil outcomes in these cases, prison for Gerry, and a large damages award for the boys, would clarify these issues and assuage their guilt feelings. A guilty verdict in the criminal case and a large civil verdict or settlement would be double vindication for the boys.”
“It was once religion which threatened us with a last judgment at the end of days. It is now our tortured planet which predicts the arrival of such a day without any heavenly intervention.”
“Antisemitism is unique among religious hatreds. It is a racist conspiracy theory fashioned for the needs of messianic and brutal rulers, as dictators from the Tsars to the Islamists via the Nazis have shown. Many other alleged religious 'hatreds' are not hatreds in the true sense. If I criticise Islamic, Orthodox Jewish or Catholic attitudes towards women, for instance, and I'm accused of being a bigot, I shrug and say it is not bigoted to oppose bigotry.”
“When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of 'No answer.' It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace, child; you don't understand.”