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Quote by Clive Staples Lewis

“Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle. (...) There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth.”

Quote by Clive Staples Lewis

Work

The Screwtape Letters

This work is a fictional correspondence that explores themes of temptation, morality, and spiritual warfare through the lens of a demonic mentor guiding his apprentice. more

Author

Clive Staples Lewis

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“Teach him to call it ‘real-life and don’t let him ask what he means by ‘real’. (...) Never having been human (...) you don’t realise how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary. (...) Thanks to processes we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things. (...) But the best of all is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is ‘the results of modern investigation’. Do remember you are there to fuddle him.”

“Why does the mind crave superstition! It's because superstition is a psychological apparatus for self-preservation. And it appears to us as truth because the only truth our brain is concerned with is the one that takes away our anxiety and aids in our survival, even if that truth happens to be just another lie our brain cooks up to maintain internal order. However, neurologically speaking, there is no such thing as a mind without superstition. Your belief that you have no superstition, is just another superstition. So, it's not about developing a mind without superstition, which is impossible, rather it is about being aware of the superstitions as much as possible, and reject those that are particularly harmful, for the self and society.”

“There are some secrets you can never tell anyone because they will judge you without knowing your stance. That is why, you need God to help you overcome mountains that no one knows about. He is a God of steadfast love who knows you inside and out.”

“Voi, ielelor, măiestrelor, Duşmane oamenilor, Stăpânele vântului, Doamnele pământului, Ce prin văzduh zburaţi, Pe iarbă lunecaţi, Şi pe valuri călcaţi, Vă duceţi în locuri depărtate În baltă, trestie, pustietate, Ca spuma la soare, Iar capul cel deocheat Sa ramâie luminat, Curat, de boală scăpat, Ochii cei vătămători Şi de foc săgetători Înveliţi să fie cu perdele albe, Să nu mai privească la obraze dalbe. Descântece de iele Unde popa nu toacă, Unde fata nu joacă, Vă duceţi în gura vântului Să va loviţi de toarta pământului, Ieşiţi din mână, trup, picior, Şi să pieriţi sus într-un nor, Daţi omului sănătate Că sabie de foc vă bate!”

“A pompous, arrogant, narcissistic intellectual came up to me at a conference and said rather boastfully. "You must feel really good about yourself to be the nice guy all the time! But let me tell you something - it takes balls to say what's really on your mind. You might have heard, the best defense is a good offense..." He went on and on for a while, and the more he spoke the more his intolerant nature became evident. I listened to everything he had to say, then heaved a soft sight, and replied with a smile. "You are absolutely right! Ama senin gibi şerefsiz olmak insanın lazım yok - porque, no soy un hijo de puta como tú - nu okka chetta na kodakkala behave cheskovachhu, kaani naaku anthaa scene ledu." He looked rather annoyed, because all my words went over his head, so he flared out, "don't beat around the bush, man - say, what you want to say!" I spoke calmly. "I'd love to speak my mind, but I wouldn't want to give anyone an inferiority complex. Bad behavior don't make us cool, it only exposes the fool we are. If bad behavior made the world better, we'd already be living in utopia, instead of still struggling for basic human rights." I didn't want the argument to linger any longer, so I asked him to join me for lunch. You see, self-regulation is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It doesn't take any character for the animal to be animal, but the true test of character is to behave human, upon conquering our inner animal.”

“Self-regulation is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It doesn't take any character for the animal to be animal, but the true test of character is to behave human, upon conquering our inner animal.”