(2020CCSLQ-6) 2020 Confirming C.S. Lewis Quotes – Episode 6

posted 8/22/2020 INTRODUCTION This is the 6th article in a series devoted to clarifying whether or not C.S. Lewis wrote something you’ve seen quoted in a book and/or shared on social media. Each post examines two quotations. The first quote is something I became aware of since my book, The Misquotable C.S. Lewis came out …

Quotes NOT By Lewis: A Preliminary Examination

Not long ago I was talking to Abraham Lincoln and he told me, “The thing about quotes on the internet is that you cannot confirm their validity.” My reply to him was that I thought C.S. Lewis had actually made that statement! Of course, I’m making this up; I’ve never spoken to Lincoln and I don’t believe Lewis ever said it. However, there are many quotations floating around online that are attributed to Lewis that he actually never wrote.

Back in March, 2013 I posted in a couple Facebook groups that I was trying to collect quotations that were credited as being by Lewis that were suspect. Even though there was a decent response to my request, I began to be involved in other projects that took up my time. The issue came back to the forefront of my mind when a friend saw one of the more common quotes misattributed to Lewis shared on Facebook by a famous author.