I Want to be C.S. Lewis When I Grow Up

Those of you who know me even slightly know of my fondness - ahem, alright, alright - downright obsession with certain historical figures. I will quote and refer to them as often as the day is long. If you know me even better, you know that fantasy writer, philosopher, and pipe-puffer, C.S. Lewis, tops my list.

Why do I love this man so? Because he has put pen to paper on nearly every subject close to my heart. And does so with an acuity and humor that is decidedly human. If you've never read any of his musings, here's a healthy dose of my friend Jack to set your synapses alight...


Love
“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” 

Courage
“Do not dare not to dare.”

Drink
"One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons–marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning."

Glory/Awe
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” 

Faith
“I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” 

Friendship
“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.” 

Pain
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” 

Books
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 

Writing
“I was with book, as a woman is with child.” 

Death
“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.”