C.S. Lewis
British writer and scholar of the early-to-mid 20th century, best known for his Christian apologetics and fantasy literature. His most famous works include *The Chronicles of Narnia*, a series of allegorical fantasy novels, and *Mere Christianity*, a collection of essays exploring faith. His prose blends intellectual rigor with imaginative storytelling.
“You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all, and often wonder why, liking this, you should also like that.”
“The Prayer that precedes all other prayer is, may the real me meet the real you.”
“In fighting those who serve devils one always his this on one's side; their Masters hate them as much as they hate us. The moment we disable the human pawns enough to make them useless to Hell, their own Masters finish the work for us. they break their tools.”
“I did wonder if there really was such a person as Aslan: but then sometimes I wondered if there were really people like you. Yet there you are.”
“People who bore one another should meet seldom; people who interest one another, often.”
“We do not enjoy a story fully at the first reading.”
“Of course, I quiet agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable discomfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay and it is no use at all trying to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is one thing you cannot get looking for it. If you look for the truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth-only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and the in the end, despair.”
“Creatures, I give you yourselves," said the strong, happy voice of Aslan. "I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do not so.”
“The literary man re-reads, other men simply read.”
“The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.”
“I enjoy writing fiction more than writing anything else. Wouldn't anyone?”
“When Adam ate the irrevocable apple, ThouSaw'st beyond death the resurrection of the dead”
“Even if there were pains in Heaven, all who understand would desire them.”
“In the enjoyment of a great myth we come nearest to experiencing as a concrete what can otherwise be understood only as an abstraction.”
“Hatred has its pleasures. It is therefore often the compensation bywhich a frightened man reimburses himself for the miseries of Fear. The more he fears, the more he will hate. - Screwtape”
“He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.”
“Fun is closely related to Joy -- a sort of emotional froth arising from the play of instinct.”
“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
“Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”
“. . . the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, praised most, while the crank, misfits and malcontents praised least.”