QuoteProject
You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.
C. S. Lewis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Laws alone cannot create morality; a society's goodness depends on the character of its individuals.

This quote by C. S. Lewis emphasizes the idea that while laws are important for governing behavior, they cannot instill goodness or morality in individuals. A society can only truly prosper and be considered 'good' if its members embody values of integrity and virtue, suggesting that personal moral character is paramount for a healthy community.

Themes

LawMoralitySocietyGoodnessCharacter

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about ethics and governance, this quote can highlight the limitations of legal systems in fostering virtue.

More from C. S. Lewis

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
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.
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

Sannyas is the art of flying... the art that stops the process of gravitation and starts the process of grace. All that is needed is a state of let-go. All that is needed is a readiness to be possessed by the upward dimension, a readiness to open to the sky.
RajneeshRead
Jonathan sighed. The price of being misunderstood, he thought. They call you devil or they call you god.
Richard BachRead
Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up... now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep.
Alan WattsRead
Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.
Jonathan EdwardsRead
If I were going to begin practicing the presence of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we are so ruined, and so loved, and in charge of so little.
Anne LamottRead
One trait in the philosopher's character we can assume is his love of the knowledge that reveals eternal reality, the realm unaffected by change and decay.
PlatoRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.