The Top 16 GREATEST Things C.S. Lewis EVER Said.

Who is more quotable than C.S. Lewis?

Who is more quotable than

C.S. Lewis

? 

In addition to writing a lot of actual great books, the guy seems to show up on quote pages, coffee mugs, and thrown-together sermons at a rate unparalleled by anyone else, dead or living (Eat your heart out, John Mark Comer!). And who needs the books when you’ve got such tasty nuggets of drive-thru wisdom? This in mind, I have composed — for your reading pleasure — the exhaustive list of the absolute GREATEST things the Sage of Narnia ever uttered. 

So, if you want to impress your friends at Bible study with a timely Lewis-ism, there’s no longer any need to pick up whatever CSL repackaging Walter Hooper has come out with most recently. Armed with JUST this list, you can move forward confidently in life and look down on all the unread plebeians with the comprehensive sum of Lewis’s wisdom in your front pocket.

You’re welcome.

#16: “When I die, I hope all of Hell rejoices that I am out of the fight.”

The red-pill bros are already known to love a good Lewis reference, but he really threw them a softball with this one. Didn’t know you were hoping to be quoted alongside bone-broth protein shake ads, Clive!

#15: “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.”

This one comes from his well-documented gnostic phase. 

#14: True humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.”

This quote is a prime example of “practicing what you preach.” Lewis was so humble — thought so little of himself . . . errr . . . of himself so little — that he didn’t leave a trace of this quote behind ANYWHERE in his published writings! 

#13: “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars—let go to move forward.”

I can just picture Lewis on the playground next to the famous Magdalen College walk he and Tolkien would take daily. Swinging. Whimsical. In his element. Carefree. Moisturized. Thriving. Moving past his “Shadowlands” period and being Surprised by Joy, one monkey bar at a time. 

#12: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”

When Frank Capra decided to co-opt this Lewis quote for his cult Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life, it caused quite a stir among the Lewis-quoting community — especially because this was a *gasp* CATHOLIC movie. And we all know that, theologically speaking, Lewis was the Uber-Evangelical in its final form. Asked for his thoughts on the film, Lewis replied, "Sentimental Hogwash!”

#11: “Live. Laugh. Love.” 

From The Four Loves, probably. Most people don’t know that the book was originally entitled The Three Ls, gesturing to this very quote — which he first saw on Tolkien’s Pinterest board. 

#10: “All I need today is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.” 

First quoted in “The Caffeinated Christian,” the little-known tract he passed around to his students during his time as an Oxford Don, the sentiment expressed here includes eye-rolling cheesiness and implied Christological inadequacy to boot! Sorority girls ever since its publication have loved nothing more than slapping this quote on a Redbubble mug as they head off to performatively read Mere Christianity at a local coffee shop.

#9: “Don’t smoke, drink, or chew – or go with girls that do.”

Ever the staunch moralist, Lewis coined this pithy maxim intending for it to be the concluding moral lesson at the very end of the Narnia series, right after the whole “further up and further in” thing. Unfortunately, his libertine hedonist of an editor took it out. Many readers have rightly pointed out the strange paradox that according to most biographical accounts of Lewis’s life, he broke at least three of these rules on a regular basis. 

But that leads us to our next quote. . .

#8: “Coaches don’t play.”

Lewis actually first heard this idea from George MacDonald. Or, wait, maybe it was Chesterton? Or was it from a Norse myth? A Beowulf translation? Something to do with the Seven Heavens in medieval cosmology?

#7: The one about eating Moon Pies in the slums, or something like that.

I don’t really remember this one, but I think it somehow related to “Ordo Amoris”? I also remember it used “holiday” in some weird, British sense that seemed to have nothing to do with Christmas or the 4th of July. Great quote, though. So deep. 

#6: “Sometimes I start a sentence and I have no idea where it’s going. I just figure it out along the way.”

Unlike the other quotes, this one cannot be found anywhere in Lewis’s collected works (even the “Signature Classics” ones your parents got you at Barnes & Noble for Christmas!). It actually comes directly from a conversation with the Inklings at the famed Eagle and Child pub. Tolkien asked him why Narnia seemed to lack a coherent mythological structure like that of The Lord of the Rings. In response, C-Staples dropped this absolute heater. Then he took a swig from his “World’s Best Writer” mug.

#5. “What does J.R.R. even stand for? Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien?”

Another Inklings banger. Absolutely BRUTAL ad hominem takedown from the Clivester. I can only imagine that ole J.R.R. was feeling absolutely hobbit-sized on the receiving end of this. And I’m so glad Charles Williams was taking notes over there in the corner for posterity. I guess he was good for something besides weird theologies of romance, after all. Thanks, Chuck!

#4: “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna.” 

A classic demonstration of Lewis’s unparalleled grasp of the empowerage of words. You can see that he understood the Latin roots of “lasagna” here from his background in classical education and . . . yada yada, whatever, you get the idea. Also, CS Lewis = Cash $ Lewis.

#3: “Alright stop / Collaborate and listen / Ice is back with my brand new invention / Something grabs a hold of me tightly / I flow like a harpoon daily and nightly / Will it ever stop / Yo I don't know / Turn off the lights / And I'll glow / Do the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal / Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle / Ice, Ice, Baby . . .” 

This quote showcases Lewis’s well-known disdain for free verse and other tenets of modernism as well as his personal aptitude for meter and rhyme.

#2: The one that says literally WHATEVER you want it to say.

^^your words here

This may be my all-time favorite CSL quote. If you ever find yourself embroiled in a theological debate, just say “As C.S. Lewis once said. . .”, insert a vaguely profound-sounding version of your own thoughts, and WHOOSH!, the argument is now OVER.

#1: “If you don’t read good books, you will read bad blogs.”

He actually almost said this one (he said something very similar in “Learning in War Time”). In all seriousness, go pick up a Lewis book. He’s a lot better between the pages than on BrainyQuote. 

But if you must go on playing with mudpies and reading bad blogs, you may as well start here — just hit the button below.