“ If he is an arrogant man with a contempt for the body really based on delicacy but mistaken by him for purity—and one who takes pleasure in flouting what most if his fellows approve—by all means let him decide against love. ”
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942). copy citation
| Author | C. S. Lewis |
|---|---|
| Source | The Screwtape Letters |
| Topic | purity contempt |
| Date | 1942 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.truechristianity.info/en/the_screwtape_letters.php |
Context
“Nothing matters at all except the tendency of a given state of mind, in given circumstances, to move a particular patient at particular moment nearer to the Enemy or nearer to us. Thus it would be quite a good thing to make the patient decide that "love" is "good" or "bad".
If he is an arrogant man with a contempt for the body really based on delicacy but mistaken by him for purity—and one who takes pleasure in flouting what most if his fellows approve—by all means let him decide against love. Instil into him an over-weening asceticism and then, when you have separated his sexuality from all that might humanise it, weigh in on him with it in some much more brutal and cynical form. If, on the other hand, he is an emotional, gullible man, feed him on minor poets and fifth-rate novelists of the old school until you have made him believe that "Love"”
source
