“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”

Surprised by Joy (1955)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation." by Clive Staples Lewis?
Clive Staples Lewis photo
Clive Staples Lewis 272
Christian apologist, novelist, and Medievalist 1898–1963

Related quotes

Laurell K. Hamilton photo
Alexander the Great photo

“Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war.”

Alexander the Great (-356–-323 BC) King of Macedon

Addressing his troops prior to the Battle of Issus, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian Book II, 7
Context: Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves. There are Greek troops, to be sure, in Persian service — but how different is their cause from ours! They will be fighting for pay — and not much of at that; we, on the contrary, shall fight for Greece, and our hearts will be in it. As for our foreign troops — Thracians, Paeonians, Illyrians, Agrianes — they are the best and stoutest soldiers in Europe, and they will find as their opponents the slackest and softest of the tribes of Asia. And what, finally, of the two men in supreme command? You have Alexander, they — Darius!

John Calvin photo
Herodotus photo

“In soft regions are born soft men.”

Book 9, Ch. 122
The Histories

Rajiv Gandhi photo

“Our plan cannot be hard and dogmatic. They must change with the times and move with the development of our country. Every year brings new compulsions, new circumstances, and with each Plan these must be taken into consideration.”

Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) sixth Prime Minister of India

On the Seventh Five Year Plan in 1985, p. 35,
Quote, Memorable Quotes from Rajiv Gandhi and on Rajiv Gandhi

Cyrus the Great photo

“Do what you want, but be prepared in that case to be ruled rather than to rule others... Soft countries breed soft men. For it is not possible for the same land to bear both wonderful fruits and men who are good at war.”

Cyrus the Great (-600–-530 BC) King and founder of the Achaemenid Empire

After being suggested by Artembares, grandfather of Artayctes, to abandon the rocky land of Persia Proper for a better region in the empire.
Source: As quoted by Herodotus, in the final section of The Histories; cited in https://books.google.com/books?id=2fZmqKcsf-wC&pg=PT362&lpg=PT362

Jacques Ellul photo

“His great passion in the world ought to be a passion for the liberation of men.”

Jacques Ellul (1912–1994) French sociologist, technology critic, and Christian anarchist

The Ethics of Freedom (1973 - 1974)
Context: It seems to me that the free man, i. e., the man freed in Christ, ought to take parts in all movements that aim at human freedom. He obviously ought to oppose all dictatorship and oppression and all the fatalities which crush man. The Christian cannot bear it that others should be slaves. His great passion in the world ought to be a passion for the liberation of men.

p. 398

Themistocles photo

“I have with me two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion.”

Themistocles (-524–-459 BC) Athenian statesman

As quoted in The Columbia Book of Quotations (1993) edited by R. Andrews http://books.google.com/books?id=4cl5c4T9LWkC, p. 894.
Original quote from Herodotus, The Histories http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%208.111&lang=original (8.111): "(2)...for the men of that place, the first islanders of whom Themistocles demanded money, would not give it. When, however, Themistocles gave them to understand that the Athenians had come with two great gods to aid them, Persuasion and Necessity, and that the Andrians must therefore certainly give money, they said in response, “It is then but reasonable that Athens is great and prosperous, being blessed with serviceable gods."
Herodotus: Original Greek http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0125%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D111: (2) πρῶτοι γὰρ Ἄνδριοι νησιωτέων αἰτηθέντες πρὸς Θεμιστοκλέος χρήματα οὐκ ἔδοσαν, ἀλλὰ προϊσχομένου Θεμιστοκλέος λόγον τόνδε, ὡς ἥκοιεν Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ ἑωυτοὺς ἔχοντες δύο θεοὺς μεγάλους, πειθώ τε καὶ ἀναγκαίην, οὕτω τέ σφι κάρτα δοτέα εἶναι χρήματα, ὑπεκρίναντο πρὸς ταῦτα λέγοντες ὡς κατὰ λόγον ἦσαν ἄρα αἱ Ἀθῆναι μεγάλαι τε καὶ εὐδαίμονες, αἳ καὶ θεῶν χρηστῶν ἥκοιεν εὖ... (via Perseus Project)
Herodotus is quoted by Plutarch in Themistocles http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0066%3Achapter%3D21%3Asection%3D1 (21.1): he said he came escorting two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion. ( Greek http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0074%3Achapter%3D21%3Asection%3D1: "δύο γὰρ ἥκειν ἔφη θεοὺς κομίζων, Πειθὼ καὶ Βίαν")
NOTE the two different sets of "gods" in the Original Greek: πειθώ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*peiqw%5C&la=greek&can=*peiqw%5C0&prior=komi/zwn&d=Perseus:text:2008.01.0074:chapter=21:section=1&i=1 τε καὶ ἀναγκαίην http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=a%29nagkai%2Fhn&la=greek&can=a%29nagkai%2Fhn0&prior=kai\&d=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125:book=8:chapter=111&i=1 (Herodotus); Πειθὼ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*peiqw%5C&la=greek&can=*peiqw%5C0&prior=komi/zwn&d=Perseus:text:2008.01.0074:chapter=21:section=1&i=1 καὶ Βίαν http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*bi%2Fan&la=greek&can=*bi%2Fan0&prior=kai\&d=Perseus:text:2008.01.0074:chapter=21:section=1&i=1 (Plutarch)

Aurelius Augustinus photo

“No greater gift could God bestow on men than to give them as their Head His Word”

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher

Source: On the Mystical Body of Christ, p.423
Context: No greater gift could God bestow on men than to give them as their Head His Word, by whom He made all things, and to unite them as members to that Head. Thus the Word became both Son of God and Son of man: one God with the Father, one Man with men. Hence, when we offer our petitions to God, let it not detach itself from its Head. Let it be He, the sole Saviour of His body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us, who prays in us, and who is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our Priest; He prays in us as our Head; He is prayed to by us as our God. Let us therefore hear both our words in Him and His words in us.... We pray to Him in the form of God; He prays in the form of the slave. There He is the Creator; here He is in the creature. He changes not, but takes the creature and transforms it into Himself, making us one man, head and body, with Himself.
We pray therefore to Him, and through Him, and in Him. We pray with Him, and He with us; we recite this prayer of the Psalm in Him, and He recites it in us.

Related topics