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
[God] will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of heaven as a shortcut to the nearest chemist's shop.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Faith cannot be manipulated for convenience; true belief requires genuine commitment.
C. S. Lewis emphasizes that one cannot utilize faith merely as a tool for personal or societal gain. Rather, authentic faith necessitates a sincere and profound engagement rather than a superficial or tactical approach, akin to attempting a shortcut that ultimately cannot achieve its goal.
Themes
FaithSocietyCommitmentAuthenticityBelief
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on ethics and morality in a community meeting.
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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Feminine virtue is nothing but a convenient masculine invention.
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Yes, now I understood for the first time that my soul was not so poor and empty as it had seemed to me, and that it had been only the sun that was lacking to open all its germs, and buds to the light.
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