C. S. Lewis Quotes
One of the most dangerous errors is that civilization is automatically bound to increase and spread. The lesson of history is the opposite; civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. The normal state of humanity is barbarism, just as the normal surface of the planet is salt water. Land looms large in our imagination and civilization in history books, only because sea and savagery are to us less interesting.
Lewis, C. S. A Preface to Paradise Lost. Oxford University Press, 1942, p. 13.
There were a few American Indian Tribes which practiced cannibalism.
He was ironically observing that most animals and primitive humans, there is fighting among the species but rarely do the fight to the death. One usually gives up, and the other will let him retire from the fight. The fighter who is getting the worst of it, will retire from the battle. However, “civilized” humans will fight for principles and ideas often to the death. “Civilized humans” also think ahead and will strive to exterminate an enemy and kill even after surrender or submission.
Clive Staples Lewis was a British writer and lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge University (Magdalene College, 1954–1963). He is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
