what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is
 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952). copy citation

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Author C. S. Lewis
Source Mere Christianity
Topic self-control temper
Date 1952
Language English
Reference
Note Adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1942 and 1944
Weblink https://www.dacc.edu/assets/pdfs/PCM/merechristianitylewis.pdf

Context

“And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding.” source

Meaning and analysis

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