One moment last night can be described in similes; otherwise it won’t go into language at all. Imagine a man in total darkness. He thinks he is in a cellar, or dungeon. Then there comes a sound. He thinks it might be a sound from far off-waves or wind-blown trees or cattle half a mile away. And if so, it proves he’s not in a cellar, but free, in the open air. Or it may be a much smaller sound, close at hand-a chuckle of laughter. And if so, there is a friend just beside him in the dark. Either way, a good, good sound. I’m not mad enough to take such an experience as evidence of anything. It is simply the leaping into imaginative activity of an idea which I would always have theoretically admitted- the idea that I, or any mortal at any time, may be utterly mistaken as to the situation he is really in..Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than a minority of them- never become even conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?.-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.
This could pass without comment, and for the most part, I will allow it to do so. I read this passage, this morning, for the first time. I am sure subsequent readings will reveal other facets, but for now, two things strike me.
.One moment last night can be described in similes; otherwise it won’t go into language at all..
Someone whose writing I greatly value and respect feels the same restrictiveness of language that I do.
.Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than a minority of them- never become even conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?.
Yes. Just… yes. If I could remind myself of this constantly, I would, and if I could teach others one fundamental rule for interacting with each other and the world, it would be this.
…
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March 18th, 2014 at 11:09 am
Excellent.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:18 am
Have you read A Grief Observed? I feel like I am only getting part of it, as I haven’t faced a grief of the kind he is experiencing, yet, but even so there are parts that speak clearly to me.
March 18th, 2014 at 8:45 pm
You’re right. That second paragraph is stated brilliantly. I read the book a few years ago but would not have recognized that passage. As I read it now I wonder why it didn’t stay with me. Whatever we perceive or imagine we perceive, it will be far short of “total reality.”
Thanks for sharing this.
March 19th, 2014 at 8:37 am
Maybe you weren’t needing that particular thought at the time? I find that books change, for me, depending on how I am when reading, which, of course, ties in with the whole question of perception. :)
You are most welcome! Thank you for reading!
March 24th, 2014 at 1:48 pm
The like button practically presses itself when I see a good Lewis quote.
March 24th, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Hahaha! Same goes for both Lewis and Tolkien, where I am concerned.
March 26th, 2014 at 11:29 am
I always seem to find quotes from Lewis I never heard of before. You’ve done it for me this time. Wonderful. Thanks!
March 26th, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Perhaps he has no end of great quotes? He certainly wrote reams, and every time I re-read a piece I seem to notice something new.
You are welcome!