“The nearest thing we have to a defence against [the gods] (but there is no real defence) is to be very wide awake and sober and hard at work, to hear no music, never to look at earth or sky, and (above all) to love no one.”

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Meaning

This reads as a dark, disciplined warning about human vulnerability. It can be taken to mean that the world is not mastered by control or busyness, but that fear is met by alertness and restraint, even if the protection is imperfect. It lands when someone is trying to stay steady under pressure and knows that attachment itself can leave them exposed.

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Original Language & Translation

Originally said in English.

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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.

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