C. S. Lewis's best quotes (with the book they come from)
The top 3 according to 181 votes from people: To love at all is to be vulnerable. · Friendship is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..." · A children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story.. (Updated Sep 13, 2020.)
"To love at all is to be vulnerable", the friendship that begins with "What! You too?" and the day you will be old enough to read fairy tales again: the C. S. Lewis lines readers quote most, from Narnia, The Four Loves and A Grief Observed to his essays, each with its source.
Top 16
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1
To love at all is to be vulnerable.
The Four Loves (1960), ch. VI "Charity".
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2
Friendship is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..."
The Four Loves (1960), ch. IV.
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3
A children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story.
"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1952).
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4
We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.
The Abolition of Man (1943), ch. I.
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5
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
"Is Theology Poetry?" (1945).
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6
The worst of all public dangers is the committee of public safety.
"A Reply to Professor Haldane" (1946).
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7
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
"The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment" (1949), in God in the Dock.
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8
When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness.
"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1952).
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9
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.
A Grief Observed (1961), part IV.
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10
Humans are amphibians — half spirit and half animal.
The Screwtape Letters (1942), letter VIII.
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11
Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), dedication to Lucy Barfield.
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12
Where men are forbidden to honor a king they honor millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead.
"Equality" (1943).
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13
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.
A Grief Observed (1961), part II.
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14
Friends look in the same direction. Lovers look at each other.
"Equality" (1943).
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15
A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.
Out of the Silent Planet (1938).
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16
Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst.
Reflections on the Psalms (1958).
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
The Four Loves passage on vulnerability is one of those things you read at 20 and only understand at 40.