UPDATED (8/11/18) – The Misquotable C.S. Lewis is my book that examines 75 quotations attributed to Lewis that I caution you not to share. Some are falsely attributed to him, others are paraphrases of his words, and a few have context issues. Don’t share a quote attributed to Lewis unless you can confirm he wrote it and the meaning is clear without the context!
The following was the 11th quote I examined that led me to writing The Misquotable C.S. Lewis. I started calling quotes like this as “questionable” because I wanted people to question whether or not Lewis wrote it. This led me to coming up with three main categories, or types of misquotes. You can learn about that in the INTRODUCTION to this series. There is also an “at a glance” page to see what quotations I’ve covered in the online series. Please note that the book has revised entries and provide more details about the expressions examined.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.”
Carrying a heavy load is rarely ever enjoyable. While among friends, loads are relatively lighter, they can STILL feel heavy. So, while this quotation, which is NOT from Lewis, appears encouraging one can easily ask if something like 1,000 pounds would be unbearable no matter HOW you carry it.
Who said it? A simple search online finds two other authors as the possible source: Lou Holtz and Lena Horne. Either way it is not found in the publishing writings of C.S. Lewis. So, choose to like the quotation or not, but just don’t give credit to Lewis.
WHAT LEWIS SAID THAT’S RELATED (or closest to it):
“One is given strength to bear what happens to one, but not the one hundred and one different things that might happen.” (Emphasis by Lewis)
from The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3 (to Mary Willis Shelburne on 3/8/1956)
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“If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (any microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”
from On Living in an Atomic Age (in Present Concerns)
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“I could well believe that it is God’s intention, since we have refused milder remedies, to compel us into unity, by persecution even and hardship. Satan is without doubt nothing else than a hammer in the hand of a benevolent and severe God. For all, either willingly or unwillingly, do the will of God: Judas and Satan as tools or instruments, John and Peter as sons.”
from The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2 (to Don Giovanni Calabria on 9/20/1947)
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“I’ve met so many innocent sufferers who seem to be gladly offering their pain to God in Christ as part of the Atonement, so patient, so meek, even so at peace, and so unselfish that we can hardly doubt they are being, as St. Paul says, “made perfect by suffering.”
from The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3 (to Belle Allen on 11/1/1954)
The next quote examined is:
“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars—let go to move forward.”
Related Articles:
Surprised By Misquotes (2018 Taylor Talk)
Exploring C.S. Lewis Misquotes and Misconceptions (2017 6-part podcast series)
What Lewis NEVER Wrote (Podcast)
Not Quite Lewis – Podcast Version
Not Quite Lewis – Questionable Lewisian Quotations (Conf. Paper)
Updated 8/11/2018
Originally posted 11/7/2015