“ peace and plenty are mere physical facts about which men happen to have certain sentiments. ”
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942). copy citation
| Author | C. S. Lewis |
|---|---|
| Source | The Screwtape Letters |
| Topic | peace sentiment |
| Date | 1942 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.truechristianity.info/en/the_screwtape_letters.php |
Context
“The hatefulness of a hated person is "real"—in hatred you see men as they are, you are disillusioned; but the loveliness of a loved person is merely a subjective haze concealing a "real" core of sexual appetite or economic association. Wars and poverty are "really" horrible; peace and plenty are mere physical facts about which men happen to have certain sentiments.
The creatures are always accusing one another of wanting "to cat the cake and have it"; but thanks to our labours they are more often in the predicament of paying for the cake and not eating it. Your patient, properly handled, will have no difficulty in regarding his emotion at the sight of human entrails as a revelation of Reality and his emotion at the sight of happy children or fair weather as mere sentiment, Your affectionate uncle SCREWTAPE”
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