Quote by C.S. Lewis

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good

Summary

This quote by C.S. Lewis suggests that a tyranny which is genuinely concerned with benefiting its victims can be even more oppressive than one driven solely by selfish motives. Lewis posits that it is preferable to live under the rule of ruthless individuals who may occasionally show mercy or be satisfied with their greed, rather than under self-righteous and morally authoritative beings who justify their relentless torment with good intentions. The latter, according to Lewis, possess an enduring determination to control and oppress as they believe their actions are justified by their own conscience.

By C.S. Lewis

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Salman Rushdie, indeed any writer who abuses the prophet or

Salman Rushdie, indeed any writer who abuses the prophet or indeed any prophet under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death.

Death

I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in c

I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge.

Control

The future is like heaven, everyone exalts it, but no one wa

The future is like heaven, everyone exalts it, but no one wants to go there now.

James A. Baldwin

Future

I've had an amazing professional life, personal life, but at

I've had an amazing professional life, personal life, but at 64 to have a son who gives us that much love and enjoyment is, wow!

Amazing

Everybody has a job to do. There are people in Iraq on both

Everybody has a job to do. There are people in Iraq on both sides of this war who do what they do for religious reasons, and they feel with God on their side. Some people are good at annihilating people. Maybe that's their gift.

Denzel Washington

War

Defeat the warriors of patience and time with Cosmic Orderin

Defeat the warriors of patience and time with Cosmic Ordering.

Stephen Richards

Happiness Abundance Creation Cosmic Ordering Focus Goal Setting Goals Law Of Attraction Author Stephen Richards Fearless

False ideals cannot be shattered by criticism. Right ideals

False ideals cannot be shattered by criticism. Right ideals must take up the battle against them.

Ideas

What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can

What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people's dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats - and they in turn can listen to ours.

Henning Mankell

Dreams

Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I

Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will--tomorrow!

Procrastination

One of our brainchildren is a still viable Science and Socie

One of our brainchildren is a still viable Science and Society course.

Philip Warren Anderson

Science Society

I'm too grateful to be hateful. I am too blessed to be stres

I'm too grateful to be hateful. I am too blessed to be stressed.

From a technical point of view, there seemed to me to be abs

From a technical point of view, there seemed to me to be absolutely no reason why - with the existing technology - we couldn't do very high quality audio, because whereas the boom in digital graphics is ongoing, the boom in digital audio has already happened.

Technology