Don't bothertoomuch about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them: when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behaviour.
~An Evening Edit~
After doing various work and errands today I returned to my desk and before I could begin my search for the source of this quote I found that a kind anonymous soul had left me this comment:
hi there, i, too, was trying to track down the source of this quote, and i've found it, so i thought i ought to share it with you. (:
it's from Letters of C. S. Lewis (edited by W. H. Lewis). there are a few typos in the quote you posted; the actual quote actually says:
"Don't bother much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them: when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behaviour."
— C. S. Lewis, letter to Mrs Sonia Graham, June 13, 1951, Letters of C. S. Lewis (edited by W. H. Lewis)
So thank you, Anonymous. I've crossed out the "too" and italicized the "you" which does highlight meaning and have a source to quote as well. I hope you 'll come visit and comment on my posts again.
And as I bumbled around today, I thought about these words of C.S.L. more than once...
~~~
Editing continued on Saturday morn ... Whoever you are, Anon, you would be a great proofreader! I have now also fixed the semi-colon that needed to be a colon from your second alert. Such small details can really make a difference, and I for one do not want to promote mistakes in other's excellent work. Thank you.
I picked the quote up off a Facebook page dedicated to C.S. Lewis. I will now try to be as diligent as my anonymous commenter and let those folks know of their errata.
8 comments:
hi there, i, too, was trying to track down the source of this quote, and i've found it, so i thought i ought to share it with you. (:
it's from Letters of C. S. Lewis (edited by W. H. Lewis). there are a few typos in the quote you posted; the actual quote actually says:
"Don't bother much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them: when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behaviour."
— C. S. Lewis, letter to Mrs Sonia Graham, June 13, 1951, Letters of C. S. Lewis (edited by W. H. Lewis)
Nice thoughts... they brightened my day, even at night.
no worries. (:
also, the semi-colon after "them" is supposed to be a colon. (:
I love this.
That is a wonderful quote. I have been made to notice the transitory nature of feelings, especially the brave, etc. type....the selfish feelings seem not to be so transitory! Anyway, I need to remember that they are part of what *happens to* me, not to be worried about, and that I should go on trying to act like the person I want to be....Lewis has a quote about that last thought somewhere, too.
Even annonymous friends are wonderful, aren't they.
Fondly,
Glenda
SO TRUE! Thank you for sharing Mr. Lewis' words with me. I actually have this book on my shelf but haven't managed to read it yet . . . now may be the time. Thanks for reminding me. ; D
As for your generous comments toward the anonymous editor, they warmed my heart. My working days (of long ago) were spent editing and writing in the tech world. Few were as kind in regard to corrections. You're something special (but I already new that).
So true indeed. Feelings are like the weather in Ireland. Give either five minutes and they will change. Up or down. Simply indicators of where I am at a given moment. Not a call to action, other than perhaps a personal inventory. Thank you for sharing this! And Merry Christmas!
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