“But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be human and isn't yet, or used to be human once and isn't now, or ought to be human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.”

Share & Save

Meaning

This reads as a blunt warning against treating the dangerous or dehumanized as harmless. It can be taken to mean that once something stops fitting a clear human moral category, caution comes first, and a defensive response may be justified. In a tense encounter with cruelty, manipulation, or a situation that feels fundamentally off, it lands as a hard call to stay alert.

When It Was Said

Not documented yet.

Who It Was Said To

Not documented yet.

Historical Context

Not documented yet.

Source

Not documented yet.

Original Language & Translation

Originally said in English.

Did They Really Say It?

Not documented yet.

Did You Know?

Not documented yet.

About C.S. Lewis

British author, literary scholar, and Anglican lay theologian

C. S. Lewis was a British author, literary scholar, and Anglican lay theologian. He held posts in English literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, and later at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He is best known for The Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis also wrote The Screwtape Letters and the Space Trilogy, along with Christian apologetic works such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. His writing ranges from imaginative fiction to religious argument, and much of it reflects his interest in Christian belief and moral questions.

More from C.S. Lewis (639 quotes) →