The following is part of a series exploring quotations attributed to C.S. Lewis that are questionable for one reason or another. I’ve collected and expanded this material in a book (THE MISQUOTABLE C.S. LEWIS, available from the publisher, Amazon, and via Google Books). That book examines 75 quotations, and so it has information not yet posted here. I’m continuing the series by posting adapted material from the book. 

There is an “at a glance” page to quickly see what has been posted so far in this series, which also includes a list of the other quotes I’ve identified as questionable. Also, if you haven’t already, consider reading the INTRODUCTION to this series to gain an understanding of the three main categories (NOT Lewis, ALMOST Lewis and NOT QUITE Lewis quotations).  

“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.”

It’s perfectly natural to question why you are going through a painful experience, either during, or after it has happen. All of us want to make sense of suffering, or as this quotations says, “the low points [in our] life.” When I first read these words I found myself easily agreeing with them, even though I questioned whether or not Lewis said them. In fact, even though I discovered that he didn’t write them, I still found myself liking what I read.  Though, when you look online there seems to be pretty convincing evidence that Lewis wrote this.

I first tracked this quotation to Lewis’s name in an online post from 2012. That site hasn’t had any new articles since that year, but it is obvious that the person who created it loves the works of C.S. Lewis. In the post in question, this falsely credited expression to Lewis is found at the beginning. A reference to The Problem of Pain is even given. However, after searching that book, I did not find the quotation. I even checked Lewis’s other works and it wasn’t there either.

I first considered classifying this as an almost quote, because it appears to be summarizing thoughts from The Problem of Pain. However, when I isolated parts of the quote I tracked the entire saying to someone named Stanley Lindquist. Then further digging yielded a 2008 collection of quotes book, True Genius that had him listed as the author. However, I considered this quote as “alleged” to be by Lindquist, because information about him is limited. In fact, while you can find his name associated with this quotation in other places online, there are no other sayings credited to him at all!

What did Lewis say that was related to this topic? As noted in other posts in this series, he spoke a good deal about learning from struggles in one’s life. In fact, the best single place to read about it is in The Problem of Pain, the title that is incorrectly listed as the source for this misquote.

The next article is:

“You won’t get credit for bowing when standing isn’t an option.”

Related Articles:

Exploring C.S. Lewis Misquotes and Misconceptions (6-part podcast series)

What Lewis NEVER Wrote  (Podcast)

Not Quite Lewis – Podcast Version

Not Quite Lewis – Questionable Lewisian Quotations (Conf. Paper)

Updated 3/31/2020