Abigail Ray’s Reviews > A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works > Status Update

"it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy occupied territory--that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage."

"Nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make any system work properly... you cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society."

"As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine, but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love."

"Grant me to make an unflawed beginning today, for I have done nothing yet."

"It is a remarkable fact that on this subject Heaven and Hell speak with one voice. The temper tells me, "Take care. Think how much this good resolve the acceptance of this Grace is going to cost." But Our Lord equally tells us to count the cost.

"The lie consists in the suggestion that our best protection is a prudent regard for the safety of our pocket, our habitual indulgences and our ambitions, but that is quite false. A real protection is to be sought elsewhere in... steady, rational, thinking, and the advice of good friends and good books and if need be and a skilled spiritual Director, swimming lessons are better than a lifeline to the shore."

"The lie consists in the suggestion that our best protection is a prudent regard for the safety of our pocket, our habitual indulgences and our ambitions, but that is quite false. A real protection is to be sought elsewhere in... steady, rational, thinking, and the advice of good friends and good books and if need be and a skilled spiritual Director, swimming lessons are better than a lifeline to the shore."

"We are in fact very like honest, but reluctant taxpayers. We approve of an income tax in principle. We make our returns truthfully. But we dread a rise in the tax. We are very careful to pay no more than is necessary and we hope-we very ardently hope-that after we have paid it there will still be enough left to live on."