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About this quote

What does it mean?
Lewis contrasts those who submit to divine will with those who insist on their own path and face the consequences.
In plain terms
You either follow God's plan or face the results of your own choices.
What can you take from it?
Submitting to a higher will avoids the burden of self-rule.

Where it applies

  • moral decision
  • religious reflection
  • life crisis

Putting it to work

  • consider submission to higher principles
  • reflect on personal autonomy

Questions to consider

  • Are you following your path or another's?
  • What does submitting to will mean?

Another view

It simplifies complex theological debates into a binary choice.

More from C. S. Lewis

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  2. The safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

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  3. When they have really learned to love their neighbours as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as their neighbours.

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