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
All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that individuals judge themselves by their own moral standards, leading to a universal sense of guilt among humanity.
C. S. Lewis's quote emphasizes that moral judgment is intrinsic and personal rather than imposed externally. It highlights that every person holds themselves accountable according to their own ethical beliefs, resulting in a shared experience of guilt that transcends cultural or societal norms. This universality of conscience reveals a deeper aspect of human nature and moral responsibility.
Themes
GuiltEthicsMoralityConscienceHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal responsibility and ethics, this quote can illustrate the burden of self-judgment.
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
All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us.
Immanuel KantRead
Lent is the time for trimming the soul and scrapping the sludge off a life turned slipshod. Lent is about taking stock of time, even religious time. Lent is about exercising the control that enables us to say no to ourselves so that when life turns hard of its own accord we have the stamina to yes to its twists and turns with faith and hope. Lent is the time to make new efforts to be what we say we want to be.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed,_x000D_ _x000D_ Less pleasing when possest;_x000D_ _x000D_ The tear forgot as soon as shed,_x000D_ _x000D_ The sunshine of the breast.
Thomas GrayRead
Peace and not war is the father of all things.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
Life cannot find reasons to sustain it, cannot be a source of decent natural regard, unless each of us resolves to breathe such qualities into it.
Frank HerbertRead
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a hallucinating idiot...for he sees what no one else does: things that, to everyone else, are not there.
Marshall McluhanRead