- incompatibleadjectiveChapter 1 →
Describing ideas or beliefs that cannot both be true or exist together at the same time without contradiction.
“Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to having a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head.”
- doctrinesnounChapter 1 →
Formal sets of beliefs or teachings, especially those officially held by a religion or philosophical system.
“He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily 'true' or 'false'”
- pressing homephraseChapter 1 →
Driving a point or argument forcefully and repeatedly into someone's mind so it takes firm hold.
“Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things.”
- pewnounChapter 2 →
A long wooden bench with a back, fixed in rows inside a church for the congregation to sit on during services.
“When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided.”
- hithertoadverbChapter 2 →
Up until this point in time; until now. Used to describe a situation that existed before a recent change.
“he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided.”
- benevolencenounChapter 3 →
A genuine desire to do good and be kind to other people; goodwill toward others.
“Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient's soul.”
- malicenounChapter 3 →
The deliberate wish to harm or cause suffering to another person; spite or ill will.
“The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day.”
- unendurablyadverbChapter 3 →
To a degree that is impossible or nearly impossible to bear or put up with; intolerably.
“each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other.”
- partisan spiritphraseChapter 5 →
Strong, often blind loyalty to one side of a cause or group, to the point where fair judgment is lost.
“Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part.”
- PacifismnounChapter 5 →
The belief that war and violence are never justified and that conflicts should always be settled by peaceful means.
“Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion.”
- barricadingverbChapter 6 →
Blocking or sealing off completely, so that nothing can get through; here used to mean shutting the mind against a thought or influence.
“There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy.”
- DiabolismnounChapter 7 →
Worship of or dealings with the devil; conduct or beliefs associated with evil or demonic forces.
“We do not want men to think that Diabolism is dangerous and exciting; we want them to think it is old and shabby.”
- amphibiansnounChapter 8 →
Here used figuratively to mean creatures that belong to two different realms at once — in this text, beings who are partly spiritual and partly physical-animal.
“Humans are amphibians — half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.”
- trough periodsphraseChapter 8 →
Times of low spiritual feeling, flatness, or dryness in a person's religious life, as opposed to the high or peak moments of strong faith and emotion.
“It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be.”
- peak periodsphraseChapter 8 →
Times of intense spiritual feeling, enthusiasm, and closeness to God — the emotional highs of a person's religious experience.
“It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be.”
- in favour ofphraseChapter 9 →
Choosing or preferring one thing instead of another; giving approval or preference to something over something else.
“You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favour of the 'best' people, the 'right' food, the important books.”
- drearyadjectiveChapter 9 →
Dull, joyless, and depressingly monotonous; lacking any spark of pleasure or interest.
“strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what.”
- mortalsnounChapter 10 →
Human beings, understood as creatures who are subject to death, as opposed to immortal spiritual beings.
“All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.”
- flippancynounChapter 11 →
A habit of treating serious matters as trivial or funny, using jokes and mockery to avoid genuine thought or honest engagement.
“But flippancy is the best of all. In the first place it is very economical.”
- economicaladjectiveChapter 11 →
Here used to mean efficient and requiring little effort or skill to achieve its effect, not relating to money or finance.
“But flippancy is the best of all. In the first place it is very economical.”
- sensibly presentphraseChapter 12 →
Perceptible to the senses or feelings in a direct, unmistakable way; able to be felt or experienced concretely rather than merely believed in.
“You must have often wondered why the Enemy does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses.”
- cravingnounChapter 13 →
A powerful, urgent desire or longing for something, especially one that grows stronger the more it is fed.
“An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.”
- diminishingadjectiveChapter 13 →
Becoming smaller, weaker, or less satisfying over time; steadily decreasing in amount or quality.
“An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.”
- rejoiceverbChapter 14 →
To feel or show great happiness and delight about something; to take genuine pleasure in a good thing.
“he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) pleased.”
- self-righteousnessnounChapter 5 →
A smug certainty that one's own beliefs and actions are morally superior to those of other people, often combined with harsh judgment of others.
“The problem is how to keep them in the state of mind we want—the right mixture of hatred and self-righteousness—without letting it spill over into action.”
The Screwtape LettersNovel by C. S. Lewis