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
To make Christianity a private affair while banishing all privacy is to relegate it to the rainbow's end or the Greek Calends.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the contradiction of seeking to privatize Christianity while simultaneously eliminating personal privacy.
C.S. Lewis argues that one cannot truly separate the practice of Christianity from the public sphere; attempting to keep it as a private matter while stripping away personal privacy renders it meaningless, akin to pursuing something ultimately unattainable, like the end of a rainbow. The quote reflects on the intrinsic connection between individual belief and its expression in the community, suggesting that faith should be an integral part of public life rather than confined to personal solitude.
Themes
ChristianityPrivacyPublicFaithBelief
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the role of religion in society, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of public faith.
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
Actually, there is no such thing as a homosexual person, any more than there is such a thing as a heterosexual person. The words are adjectives describing sexual acts, not people. The sexual acts are entirely normal; if they were not, no one would perform them.
Gore VidalRead
There is a God and He is good, and his love, while free, has a self imposed cost: We must be good to one another.
George H. W. BushRead
We need language to tell us who we are, how we feel, what we're capable of- to explain the pains and glory of our existence.
Maya AngelouRead
Look into any man's heart you please, and you will always find, in every one, at least one black spot which he has to keep concealed.
Henrik IbsenRead
The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.
William Graham SumnerRead
The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves but the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind.
Charles Horton CooleyRead