Quotessence
Home / Authors / C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis Quotes

Novelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsMenThinkingPeopleWorldKnowsChristianMayDoeWantGivingReligionRealInspirationalMadeMeanSaidWayHas BeensMere

Famous C. S. Lewis Quotes

“The central Christian belief is that Christ's death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start. Theories as to how it did this are another matter. A good many different theories have been held as to how it works; what all Christians are agreed on is that it does work.”

DoeHas BeensDifferentMatterChristianBeliefGivenChristTheoryGood ManFresh Start
Book:The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics
Create image

“Let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being "in Christ" or of Christ being "in them", this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts--that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body.”

ThinkingWayMeanWholeBodyChristianLife IsSpeakChristMoralClearMassLet MeFingersCellsMusclesOrganismsCopying
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“Honest rejection of Christ, however mistaken, will be forgiven and healed ... but to evade the Son of Man, to look the other way, to pretend you haven't noticed, to become suddenly absorbed in something on the other side of the street, to leave the receiver off the telephone because it might be He who was ringing up, to leave unopened certain letters in a strange handwriting because they might be from Him -- this is a different matter. You may not be certain yet whether you ought to be a Christian; but you do know you ought to be a Man, not an ostrich, hiding its head in the sand.”

KnowsMenWayLooksMayDifferentMatterMightChristianCertainSidesChristStreetsHonestHavensStrangeSonOughtLettersRejectionSandHidingMistakenForgivenTelephonesBe A ManHealedReceiverHandwritingOstriches
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“A perfect practice of Christianity would, of course, consist in a perfect imitation of the life of Christ -- I mean, in so far as it was applicable in one's own particular circumstance. Not in an idiotic sense -- it doesn't mean that every Christian should grow a beard, or be a bachelor, or become a travelling preacher. It means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God.”

ShouldMeanFeelingsChristianCoursesGrowsChristPerfectChristianityPracticeParticularCircumstancesPleasantPreacherImitationBeardBachelorsIdioticPerfect Practice
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“The first thing to get clear about Christian morality between man and man is that in this department Christ did not come to teach any brand new morality. The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you would be done by) is a summing up of what everyone, at bottom, had always known to be right.”

MenFirstsDoneWould BeChristianChristKnownTeachClearMoralityBottomGoldenBrandsDepartmentTestamentNew TestamentGolden RuleBrand NewChristian MoralitySumming Up
Book:Mere Christianity: a revised and enlarged edition, with a new introduction, of the three books, The case for Christianity, Christian behaviour, and Beyond personality
Create image

“On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him. Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.”

IfsThinkingMenWholeFeelingsCareChristianSubjectsAffairOur LoveGod's LoveChristian Love
Book:A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis
Create image

“There is one bit of advice given us by the ancient Greeks, and by the Jews in the Old Testament, and by the great Christian teachers of the Middle Ages, which the modern economic system has completely disobeyed. All these people told us not to lend money at interest; and lending money at interest - what we call investment - is the basis of our whole system.”

PeopleWholeAgeChristianGivenBitsInterestTeacherEconomicModernMiddleAdviceBasesInvestmentAncientJewGreekTestamentMiddle AgesOld TestamentEconomic SystemsLendingAncient GreekGreat ChristianLending MoneyChristian Teachers
Book:The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics
Create image

“The Christian claim is: Nothing explains the facts better than an all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent god creating the universe and sending Jesus to spread his message. This is about as remarkable a claim as could be stated, and yet it is tossed out lightly. Christians seem to imagine that "God did it" is as plausible as the natural explanation that stories grow with the retelling. The Christian has the burden of proof, and it's an enormous burden given this enormous claim.”

ChristianUniverseJesusNaturalImagineBurdenSpreadExplanationRemarkableImagine That
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

BelieveGodChristianReligionFaithBeliefI BelieveReligiousChristianitySunSeeingAtheismCatholicAtheistI Believe InHave FaithTheologianOrthodoxyRisenChristian FaithGod ExistsHope And FaithBeliveChristian ChurchChroniclesVoice Of GodApologeticFaith ReligionProof Of GodChristian MinistryProof That God ExistsProof God ExistsGreat ChristianSeeing Is BelievingHe Has RisenChristian PhilosophyHe Is RisenWestminster AbbeyRelying On GodAuthentic ChristianityBest Christian
Book:A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis
Create image

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

WorldGodChristianPainSpeakChallengesPleasureListeningDepressionConscienceEncouragementGods WillDeafPain And PleasurePain And SufferingApologeticWalking With GodJoy And PainChristian GodGrief ObservedOvercoming DepressionWorld SufferingBeing DepressedSuffering PainGreat ChristianPain SufferingHelp With DepressionDepression InspirationalBest GodPain PleasureGod Is With UsBest Christian
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“Q. What is your view of the daily discipline of the Christian life - the need for taking time to be alone with God? Lewis: "We have our New Testament regimental orders upon the subject. I would take it for granted that everyone who becomes a Christian would undertake this practice. It is enjoined upon us by Our Lord; and since they are his commands, I believe in following them. It is always just possible that Jesus Christ meant what he said when He told us to seek the secret place and to close the door.”

NeedsBelieveSaidChristianOrderJesusI BelieveChristViewsSecretLordPracticeDoorsSubjectsDisciplineJesus ChristFollowingI Believe InChristian LifeCommandGrantedTake TimeTestamentOur LordNew TestamentSecret PlacesAlone With GodDaily Discipline
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldMeanDoeChristianFormNextVirtueModernEternalLooking ForwardTheologicalEscapismWishful Thinking
Book:Joyful Christian
Create image

“If you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ's body...every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who along can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be a odd way of getting him to do more work.”

PeopleIfsMenWayWantLittlesHelpingBodyWould BeChristianChristCan DoCuttingAddFingersCellsWorriedOddUnreasonableBody Of ChristCutting Off
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

MenDoeIdeasGodSeemsChristianReligionUniverseLinesJusticeLordAtheismArgumentMereAtheistCrueltyCompareNovelistsAgnosticUnjustCrookedStraight LinesGod ExistsEssayistsApologeticCruel WorldProof Of GodProof That God ExistsProof God ExistsProblem Of EvilCrooked Lines
Book:Joyful Christian
Create image

“The Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or — if they think there is not — at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMenTryingDoeDifferentChristianChristSunPositionPleaseDeserveShiningMereBe GoodGods WillGood ManApprovalRoofGreenhousesSun ShinesShine On
Book:The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics
Create image

“A Christian society is not going to arrive until most of us really want it: and we are not going to want it until we become fully Christian. I may repeat "Do as you would be done by" till I am black in the fact, but I cannot really carry it out till I love my neighbour as myself: and I cannot learn to love my neighbour as myself till I learn to love God.”

WantMayMatterDoneFactsWould BeChristianSocialBlackReligiousDrivenGod LoveRepeatsInwardNeighbour
Author:C. S. Lewis
Create image