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Quote by Sheldon Vanauken

“It is, I think, that we are all so alone in what lies deepest in our souls, so unable to find the words, and perhaps the courage to speak with unlocked hearts, that we don't know at all that it is the same with others.”

Quote by Sheldon Vanauken

Author

Sheldon Vanauken
Sheldon Vanauken

Sheldon Vanauken (1914-1996) was an American author and scholar, best known for his memoir "A Severe Mercy" about his friendship with C.S. Lewis. Born on August 4, 1914, Vanauken studied at Oxford University, where he befriended the renowned writer C.S. Lewis. His book, published in 1977, chronicles his deep love for his wife Jean Davis and their spiritual journey alongside Lewis. Vanauken's elegant prose and profound exploration of faith and friendship have made his work a classic in religious literature, continuing to inspire readers worldwide. more

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“The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment. And only this condition of vicious insight allows us a full grasp of the world, all things considered, just as a frigid melancholy grants us full possession of ourselves. We may hide from horror only in the heart of horror. (“The Medusa”)”

“To be sane, he held, was either to be sedated by melancholy or activated by hysteria, two responses which were 'always and equally warranted for those of sound insight'. All others were irrational, merely symptoms of imaginations left idle, of memories out of work. And above these mundane responses, the only elevation allowable, the only valid transcendence, was a sardonic one: a bliss that annihilated the universe with jeers of dark joy, a mindful ecstasy. Anything else in the way of 'mysticism' was a sign of deviation or distraction, and a heresy to the obvious. (“The Medusa”)”