Even though I have used many C. S. Lewis quotes in my blog posts, for some reason I never read any of his books. Strange thing, I know. Maybe because I wasn’t yet ready for his teachings. But now, after all the changes I’ve been through in the last two years, and reading all these incredible quotes, quotes that I am going to share with you today as I realized that his books are exactly what I need to read at this moment
1. Everything changes, nothing ever stays the same.
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different…” ~ C. S. Lewis2. There are far, far better things ahead than the ones you leave behind.
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ~ C. S. Lewis3. Nothing in life ours to keep.
“Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.” ~ C. S. Lewis4. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.
“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.” ~ C. S. Lewis5. Don’t doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are.
“I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been born in God’s thought, and then made by God is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.”This is a prayer of contentment.” ~ C. S. Lewis
“You doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are.” ~ C. S. Lewis
6. If you find in yourself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that you were made for another world.
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ~ C. S. Lewis“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.” ~ C. S Lewis.
7. You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” ~ C. S. Lewis“When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive.” ~ C. S. Lewis
8. Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see God.
“Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.” ~ C. S. Lewis9. Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.” ~ C. S. Lewis“I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait.” ~ C. S. Lewis
10. Experience is the most brutal of teachers.
“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” – C. S. Lewis11. Repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement.
“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.” ~ C. S. Lewis12. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~ C.S. Lewis13. Don’t let your happiness depend on something you may lose.
“Don’t let your happiness depend on something you may lose.” ― C.S. Lewis14. This world is a great sculptor’s shop.
“This world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there’s a rumor going around the shop that some of us are someday going to come to life.” ~ C.S. Lewis15. We are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.
“It is easy to acknowledge, but almost impossible to realize for long, that we are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.” ~ C.S. Lewis“If a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred.—like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope.” ~ C.S. Lewis
16. There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” ~ C.S. Lewis17. You have no duty to be anyone’s Friend and no man in the world has a duty to be yours.
“I have no duty to be anyone’s Friend and no man in the world has a duty to be mine. No claims, no shadow of necessity. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” ~ C.S. Lewis18. You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making.
“You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making.” ~ C.S. Lewis19. To love at all is to be vulnerable.
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ~ C.S. Lewis20. What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth.
“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.” ~ C.S. Lewis21. Love is a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good.
“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” ~ C.S. Lewis22. Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did, and you will.
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” ~ C.S. Lewis23. No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.
“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.” ~ C.S. Lewis24. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give.
“In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give.” ~ C.S. Lewis25. If a person thinks she is not conceited, she is very conceited indeed.
“If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.” ~ C.S. Lewis26. Pride is spiritual cancer.
“Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, contentment, or even common sense.” ~ C.S. Lewis“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” ~ C.S. Lewis
27. Only the pure in heart want to see God.
“It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.” ~ C.S. Lewis28. Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” ~ C. S. Lewis“To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?” ~ C.S. Lewis
“All that we call human history–money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery–[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” ~ C.S. Lewis
29. Forgiving does not mean excusing.
“Forgiving does not mean excusing.” ~ C.S. Lewis30. Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth.
“Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth. ” ~ C.S. Lewis31. Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.
“Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” ~ C.S. Lewis32. We meet no ordinary people in our lives.
“We meet no ordinary people in our lives.” ~ C.S. Lewis33. Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.
“Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.”34. Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”35. Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.
“Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.”36. A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story.
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
37. True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.”There are so many life-changing lessons to learn from C.S. Lewis but because I don’t want to make this list longer than it actually is, I’ll stop here. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
By Luminita D. Saviuc
This article was originally published on purposefairy.com.
Follow purposefairy on Instagram.
