C.S. Lewis: "No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--the only complete realist."

6 comments:
The characterization of Christ as the only "complete realist"--I love that.
Excellent, I'm with H; Christ is the only one who knows the full depth.
I LOVE C.S. Lewis, thanks for sharing.
How funny that you posted this quote, as I was thinking of it just yesterday and saying to myself, "Self, you should find that quote and memorize it--it's a good one to keep in mind." So thanks for finding it for me! Great minds, great minds...!
Thank you for posting this. I've never heard it before, and I love it.
Love it. I may have to borrow it for my blog :-).
love Mr. Lewis. Gracias.
Post a Comment