“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.”
C. S. Lewis
FaithBelief
C. S. Lewis Quotes
Irish-British - Writer|November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963
50 FAMOUS QUOTES · WRITER
C. S. Lewis Quotes
Read 50 of the best C. S. Lewis quotes on faith, love, friendship, courage and joy from the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity.
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
C. S. Lewis
LongingFaith
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
C. S. Lewis
PurposePriorities
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
C. S. Lewis
GrowthChange
“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth.”
C. S. Lewis
TruthComfort
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
C. S. Lewis
FriendshipThe Four Loves
“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another, "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..."
C. S. Lewis
FriendshipConnection
“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.”
C. S. Lewis
AffectionHappiness
“To love at all is to be vulnerable.”
C. S. Lewis
LoveVulnerability
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
C. S. Lewis
GriefA Grief Observed
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
C. S. Lewis
CourageVirtue
“The safest road to hell is the gradual one: the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
C. S. Lewis
TemptationThe Screwtape Letters
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”
C. S. Lewis
TyrannyFreedom
“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”
C. S. Lewis
EducationTeaching
“No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth, you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
C. S. Lewis
OriginalityWriting
“Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”
C. S. Lewis
WritingWords
“Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.”
C. S. Lewis
WritingClarity
“You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
C. S. Lewis
BooksTea
“I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.”
C. S. Lewis
JoyPleasure
“Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”
C. S. Lewis
JoyHeaven
“Reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”
C. S. Lewis
ImaginationReason
“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
C. S. Lewis
TimeFuture
“Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.”
C. S. Lewis
GivingGenerosity
“We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road.”
C. S. Lewis
ProgressWisdom
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
FaithMere Christianity
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About C. S. Lewis
Irish-British - Writer | November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963
C. S. Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963) was a writer, scholar and lay theologian, born in Belfast, Ireland. After serving as a soldier in World War I, he became a fellow and tutor in English literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, and later a professor at Cambridge. With his close friend J. R. R. Tolkien, he was a member of the Oxford literary group known as the Inklings.
Once an atheist, Lewis became a Christian in 1931 and went on to write some of the most widely read books of the 20th century, including *The Chronicles of Narnia*, *Mere Christianity*, *The Screwtape Letters*, *The Four Loves* and *A Grief Observed*. His books have sold well over 100 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages. Here are 50 of the best C. S. Lewis quotes.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about C. S. Lewis and these famous quotes.
Who was C. S. Lewis?
C. S. Lewis was a writer and scholar born in Belfast in 1898. He taught at Oxford and Cambridge and wrote fantasy, science fiction, literary criticism and Christian non-fiction.
What are The Chronicles of Narnia?
*The Chronicles of Narnia* are seven fantasy novels published between 1950 and 1956, beginning with *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*. They follow children who enter the magical land of Narnia, ruled by the great lion Aslan.
Were C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien friends?
Yes. They were close friends and colleagues at Oxford and members of the Inklings, a group of writers who read their work aloud to each other. Tolkien played a key role in Lewis's return to Christianity.
Which famous quotes did C. S. Lewis never say?
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" is from motivational speaker Les Brown. "You don't have a soul. You are a soul" isn't in his writings, and "We read to know we are not alone" comes from the 1993 film *Shadowlands*.
What is A Grief Observed about?
*A Grief Observed* (1961) is Lewis's honest account of mourning the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960. It's widely read by people coping with loss.
When did C. S. Lewis die?
He died in Oxford on November 22, 1963, the same day as U.S. President John F. Kennedy and writer Aldous Huxley.