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
A sign of a culture that has lost its faith - Moral collapse follows upon spiritual collapse.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a decline in spiritual beliefs leads to a deterioration of moral standards in society.
C. S. Lewis highlights the idea that when a culture loses its spiritual foundation, the moral fabric of that culture begins to fray. This moral collapse can manifest in various ways, impacting individuals and communities as ethical values are abandoned, leading to a society that may struggle with principles of right and wrong. The connection between spirituality and morality suggests that faith and belief systems play a crucial role in guiding human behavior and societal norms.
Themes
CultureFaithMoralitySpiritualityCollapse
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of faith in maintaining ethical standards in society.
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
Admire and adore the Author of the telescopic universe, love and esteem the work, do all in your power to lessen ill, and increase good, but never assume to comprehend.
John AdamsRead
. . . by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the external world. It has adopted the geometry most advantageous to the species or, in other words, the most convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.
Henri PoincareRead
His older self had taught his younger self a language which the older self knew because the younger self, after being taught, grew up to be the older self and was, therefore, capable of teaching.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived. That goes for societies as well as for individuals.
Ralph EllisonRead
Human beings never think for themselves. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.
Michael CrichtonRead
It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice of some of the moral sense, which cramps and restrains our nature.
Eric HofferRead