C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis, 1898-1963) was a highly influential writer and intellectual. In addition to penning more than 30 books (The Chronicles of Narnia books alone have sold more than 100 million copies) he also worked in esteemed positions at Oxford University, and later Cambridge University, until his retirement.
Lewis’s comments on theology, grief, the nature of progress, love, and morality left a legacy that we’re still pondering today. Let’s take a look at some quotes from C.S. Lewis that remain as relevant and poignant today as they did during his time – they might just give you a little something to think about concerning your own life and career path.
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“Adventures are never fun while you’re having them.”
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”
“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.”
“We are what we believe we are.”
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of 10, become original without ever having noticed it.”
“With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere.”
“What you see and hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”
“We meet no ordinary people in our lives.”
“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career.”
“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; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.”
The quotes used for this article were taken from C.S. Lewis’s page on BrainyQuotes and from his page on Goodreads.
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