C. S. Lewis

I have come to the conclusion that if you cannot translate your own thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts are confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood your own meaning.
-quoted in Alister McGrath. The Passionate Intellect. (41)

C. S. Lewis on Politics

I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from Rousseau, who believed in democracy because he thought mankind so wise and good that everybody deserved a share in government. The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power. I do not think equality is one of those things which are good simply in themselves and for their own sakes.
- C. S. Lewis. Present Concerns. (71)

I can be whatever I want!

For the power of man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please.
-C. S. Lewis. The Abolition of Man. (72)

C. S. Lewis on Education

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.
-C. S. Lewis. The Abolition of Man. (24)