C. S. Lewis Quotes

Conscience is a cudgel which all men pick up in order to thwack their neighbors instead of applying it to their own shoulders.

In other men we faults can spy,/ And blame the mote that dims their eye;/ Each little speck and blemish find;/ To our own stronger errors blind.

When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.

Being judgmental about your own behavior is actually another cop-out because it makes you feel as though you're doing something virtuous.

We often think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, and it's easy to judge others and be critical of their weaknesses and shortcomings. But this self-righteous attitude is a sin that we can be blinded to because we're so focused on what the other person did wrong. The reality is this attitude is worse than the wrong behavior we're judging.

None are so ready to find fault with others as those who do things worthy of blame themselves.

There is no point in pointing fingers because there are three fingers pointing back at you.

Curiously enough, it is often the people who refuse to assume any responsibility who are apt to be the sharpest critics of those who do.

Sinners think they are saints, but saints know they are sinners.

I am suspicious of guilt in myself and in other people; it is usually a way of not thinking, or of announcing one's own fine sensibilities the better to be rid of them fast.

Every man carries two bags about him, one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. The bag in front contains his neighbors' faults, the one behind his own. Hence it is that men do not see their own faults, but never fail to see those of others.

The man who acts the least, upbraids the most.

E'er you remark another's sin, bid your own conscience look within.

Were we faultless, we would not derive such satisfaction from remarking the faults of others.

All of us should be much more humble and contrite when we point the finger at somebody else, because four more fingers are pointing back at us.

Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself.

There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.

Oh, how horrible our sins look when they are committed by someone else.

He who accuses another of wrong should look well into his own conduct.

Who are you to condemn another's sin? He who condemns sin becomes part of it, espouses it.

If we say that anyone who 'moralizes' must be perfect morally then we are in effect saying no one can moralize.

To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.

Few men would dare to read their own autobiography if all their deeds were recorded in it; few can look back upon their entire career without a blush.

Most people repent their sins by thanking God they ain't so wicked as their neighbors.

I tolerate my faults but not at all other people's.