C.S. Lewis Quotes

A collection of quotes by C.S. Lewis.

Clive Staples Lewis, commonly known as C.S. Lewis, was a highly influential British writer and scholar, born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Ireland. He is best known for his captivating fantasy series, "The Chronicles of Narnia." Lewis developed a deep love for storytelling and mythology from a young age, and this passion would shape his future work.

Lewis served as a professor of English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He gained widespread recognition for his expertise in medieval literature, becoming a renowned academic figure. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Lewis penned numerous works of fiction, non-fiction, and essays, exploring various genres such as theology, Christian apologetics, and allegorical fiction.

His most notable literary achievement, "The Chronicles of Narnia," consists of seven books that continue to enchant readers of all ages. Published between 1950 and 1956, this beloved series has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been adapted into multiple films, further cementing Lewis's status as a celebrated author.

Central to Lewis's writing was his strong Christian faith, which infused his stories and informed his persuasive works on Christianity. Still, many of his works have garnered critical acclaim and readership beyond religious circles, appealing to individuals from diverse backgrounds due to their timeless themes, vivid imagination, and masterful storytelling.

C.S. Lewis passed away on November 22, 1963, leaving an enduring legacy as one of the most respected and beloved writers of the twentieth century. His works continue to captivate generations, inspiring readers to explore the depths of imagination, faith, and the power of good storytelling.

We are what we believe we are.

We are what we believe we are.

Believe

You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues.

You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues.

Christianity

Clearly one must read every good book at least once every te

Clearly one must read every good book at least once every ten years.

Reading Books

Periods' are largely an invention of the historians. The poe

Periods' are largely an invention of the historians. The poetsthemselves are not conscious of living in any period and refuse to conform to the scheme.

Literary Criticism

It is conceivable that ideas derived from Akhenaten's system

It is conceivable that ideas derived from Akhenaten's system formed part of that Egyptian 'Wisdom' in which Moses was bred. There is nothing to disquiet us in such a possibility. Whatever was true in Akhenaten's creed came to him, in some mode or other, as all truth comes to all men, from God.

God Religion Jews All Truth Is God S Truth Egypt Reflections On The Psalms

Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret

Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of--something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possesed your soul have been but hints of it--tantalizing glimspes, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest--if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself--you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say 'Here at last is the thing I was made for.' We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the things we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all.

Friendship Heaven Hobbies

And she never could remember; and ever since that day what L

And she never could remember; and ever since that day what Lucy means by a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magician's Book.

Books Magic

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some dis

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.

Learning

We're free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you're ru

We're free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you're running away to Narnia you want to be one too. In that case Hwin isn't your horse any longer. One might just as well say you're her human.

Fantasy

Grief ... gives life a permanently provisional feeling. It d

Grief ... gives life a permanently provisional feeling. It doesn't seem worth starting anything. I can't settle down. I yawn, I fidget, I smoke too much. Up till this I always had too little time. Now there is nothing but time. Almost pure time, empty successiveness.

Time Grief Emptiness Senselessness

It must be the full confession by Christendom of Christendom

It must be the full confession by Christendom of Christendom's specific contribution to the sum of human cruelty and treachery.

Love Christianity

Though our feelings come and go, Gods love for us does not.

Though our feelings come and go, Gods love for us does not.

God Love

...here also forgiving does not mean excusing. Many people s

...here also forgiving does not mean excusing. Many people seem to think it does. They think that if you ask them to forgive someone who has cheated or bullied them you are trying to make out that there was really no cheating or bullying. But if that were so, there would be nothing to forgive. (This doesn't mean that you must necessarily believe his next promise. It does mean that you must make every effort to kill every taste of resentment in your own heart - every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out.)

Forgiveness

Those who cannot conceive of Friendship as a substantive lov

Those who cannot conceive of Friendship as a substantive love but only as a disguise or elaboration of Eros betray the fact that they have never had a Friend.

Love Friendship

I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserabl

I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been - if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you - you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again.

Sadness Goodbye

Sometimes it is hard not to say, 'God forgive God.' Sometime

Sometimes it is hard not to say, 'God forgive God.' Sometimes it is hard to say so much. But if our faith is true, He didn't. He crucified Him.

Christianity Grief Religious

In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three ti

In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not.

Prayer God S Will

Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Na

Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.

King Narnia Always Elect Queen

The heart never takes the place of the head: but it can, and

The heart never takes the place of the head: but it can, and should, obey it.

Logic Heart Ethics

The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.

The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.

Curiosity