Monday, August 02, 2010

The Worst of Tyrannies?

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under live robber barons than under omnipotent moral busibodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good, will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” - CS Lewis

I've come across this quote by CS Lewis before several times.  This time, Lewis Wells uses it on his new site Commandments of Men.  I think this question should be applied well to every area of life, whether family, religion or politics.

3 comments:

  1. Great quote! It reminds me of this quote by Robert Heinlein: "There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome, Dan, and thanks for the comment. I think it applies equally well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the quote. Keep the Lewis coming!

    ReplyDelete