edenfalling | a thought

You're viewing

edenfalling's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

edenfalling

Here is the passage from C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain that I found most striking and thought particularly apropos for today's world:

Perhaps my harping on the word "kindness" has already aroused a protest in some readers' minds. Are we not really an increasingly cruel age? Perhaps we are: but I think we have become so in the attempt to reduce all virtues to kindness. For Plato rightly taught that virtue is one. You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues.

If, being cowardly, conceited and slothful, you have never yet done a fellow creature great mischief, that is only because your neighbour's welfare has not yet happened to conflict with your safety, self-approval, or ease. Every vice leads to cruelty. Even a good emotion, pity, if not controlled by charity and justice, leads through anger to cruelty.

Most atrocities are stimulated by accounts of the enemy's atrocities; and pity for the oppressed classes, when separated from the moral law as a whole, leads by a very natural process to the unremitting brutalities of a reign of terror.

[Chapter 4, 'Human Wickedness,' paragraphing mine]

...

I suspect my exposure to Tumblr's vicious ~~callout~~ witch-hunting culture affected my response to this passage, though it is of course applicable to many other walks of life.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: cass lake, mn
Crossposts: http://edenfalling.livejournal.com/1024535.html

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

This...this. Well found. This is something that is not only relevant, it's poignant. Hits you right where you need it. Thank you for sharing.

From:

edenfalling

When Lewis is on-point, he is on-point.

From:

Preach. ;)

From:

cat_i_th_adage

This.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Profile

Elizabeth Culmer

January 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Tags

-a history of handcrafts [5]
-alpha timeline fluff [18]
-alternian nights [10]
-an ounce of prevention [60]
-ancestral nights [6]
-and all around is the desert [2]
-apartment manager sidestories [16]
-as the morning and the night [13]
-ashes [20]
-beauty [2]
-bluebell [11]
-debts [1]
-dreamers of the day [3]
-edmund and ginny go to harfang [9]
-elsewhere [4]
-ephemera [1]
-finding marea [14]
-fixation and other stories [69]
-four by four [3]
-harvest [13]
-jewelstuck [4]
-knives [8]
-leaf and letter [14]
-learning to listen [13]
-leaves [1]
-lemonade [46]
-locked room problems [3]
-made manifest [2]
-more or less the same [11]
-narutostuck [10]
-new horizons [3]
-one equal temper of heroic hearts [8]
-paint the town [6]
-persephone noir [1]
-restoration [11]
-secrets [55]
-small mysteries [1]
-strange likenesses [13]
-summer camp and politics [15]
-sunbright and shadowfall [12]
-tales from the yellow yard [9]
-tenich valley [1]
-the courting dance [11]
-the dragon debacle [3]
-the fox and the star [1]
-the guardian in spite of herself [75]
-the painted sky [6]
-the sum of things [25]
-the summoner's tale [7]
-the transient and the eternal [33]
-the war of secret flames [7]
-the way of the apartment manager [70]
-the witch of immish [7]
-tides [29]
-trollstuck [55]
-two guys and a girl [21]
-untimely ripped [6]
-utilitarian virtue [7]
-weregild [25]
-what isn't broken (can still be fixed) [6]
-winter's daughter [6]
-worse fates [2]
15-minute fic [229]
30 days of fanfiction [10]
adventures in botany [293]
adventures in dogsitting [47]
adventures in zoology [83]
analysis [300]
ao3 statistics [13]
ardis [13]
art [66]
asexuality [22]
audiovisual media [76]
avatar episode reactions [19]
badness and woe [255]
betapalooza [7]
book list [104]
book list 2006 [23]
book list 2007 [22]
book list 2008 [21]
book list 2009 [12]
book list 2018 [6]
book list 2019 [10]
book list 2020 [3]
books [1]
burglary is no fun at all [14]
camia [17]
cape cod [1]
cat's wedding [6]
college [152]
compare and contrast
- lww [6]
computers [233]
cotton candy bingo [65]
covid 19 [32]
critics united [8]
crossover [180]
daredevil bingo [7]
daredevil secret santa [10]
december talking meme [33]
decluttering [43]
depression sucks [78]
directory [30]
drabbles [49]
dreams [49]
editing [66]
ekanu thousandbirds [65]
embroidery and cross-stitch [4]
end-of-year writing review [13]
essay [79]
etwas deutsches [6]
everyday life [1978]
exchange letter
- betapalooza [1]
- jadefest [1]
- ladystuck [4]
- nfe [12]
- palestuck [1]
- remixredux [5]
- yuletide [17]
fable/fairy tale [50]
family [624]
fan_flashworks [11]
fandom [339]
fandom trumps hate [3]
fandom
- a song of ice and fire [5]
- a wrinkle in time [1]
- acts of caine [4]
- addams family [1]
- agent carter [1]
- american gods [3]
- an ash-blonde witch [2]
- andre norton [2]
- angel sanctuary [71]
- anita blake [35]
- arthurian mythology [3]
- avatar the last airbender [32]
- batman [21]
- black jewels [25]
- black panther [2]
- bleach [1]
- books of the raksura [11]
- bourne trilogy [3]
- brother cadfael [1]
- btvs [92]
- captain america [11]
- cardcaptor sakura [6]
- chalion [5]
- charlotte's web [4]
- children of the star [6]
- chronicles of narnia [436]
- code geass [11]
- damar [2]
- daredevil [61]
- dark is rising [18]
- dbz [2]
- dcu [2]
- death note [8]
- defenders [6]
- diana wynne jones [15]
- digger [1]
- discworld [7]
- doctor who [23]
- dragaera [2]
- dresden files [1]
- duck hunt [1]
- enchanted forest chronicles [57]
- ender's game [4]
- falling skies [1]
- final fantasy 7 [31]
- final fantasy 8 [1]
- firefly [2]
- gi joe rise of cobra [13]
- girl genius [6]
- girl with the silver eyes [3]
- glee [3]
- goblin emperor [1]
- gormenghast [15]
- greek myth [2]
- guardians of the galaxy [10]
- gundam wing [48]
- hainish cycle [1]
- hamilton [4]
- hamlet [1]
- hannibal [5]
- haroun and the sea of stories [1]
- harry potter [483]
- heroes [5]
- hexwood [4]
- hikaru no go [2]
- homestuck [401]
- homeward bounders [8]
- howl's moving castle [5]
- imperial radch [1]
- inception [64]
- indiana jones [6]
- jessica jones [5]
- jonathan strange & mr norrell [1]
- king lear [2]
- kuroko no basuke [1]
- labyrinth [16]
- leverage [6]
- lions of al-rassan [12]
- looney tunes [1]
- lucifer [24]
- macbeth [3]
- mad max [6]
- mcu [55]
- merlin [11]
- murderbot diaries [10]
- mysterious skin [4]
- naruto [455]
- nine worlds [11]
- othello [1]
- oz [7]
- pacific rim [1]
- percy jackson [1]
- pern [2]
- project hail mary [1]
- psion series [2]
- psy-changeling [1]
- ranma 1/2 [10]
- riddle-master [8]
- rise of the guardians [4]
- rusty quill gaming [11]
- saga of the skolian empire [10]
- sailor moon [10]
- saiyuki [11]
- seaward [7]
- sesame street [2]
- shakespeare [7]
- six of crows [4]
- sky high [1]
- snake fight thesis defense [2]
- song for the basilisk [3]
- spider-man [1]
- spinning silver [1]
- star trek [99]
- star wars [14]
- stargate sg-1 [5]
- summer in orcus [1]
- supernatural [1]
- susan cooper [9]
- tam lin (pamela dean) [6]
- taz balance [1]
- temeraire [2]
- the bible [6]
- the darkangel [56]
- the dispossessed [13]
- the hidden almanac [1]
- the hunger games [1]
- the magnus archives [40]
- the martian [1]
- the queen's thief [7]
- the sandman [10]
- the steerswoman [1]
- tolkien (middle earth) [11]
- trigun [4]
- ursula vernon [2]
- valdemar [1]
- victoria goddard [19]
- villains by necessity [3]
- vorkosigan saga [12]
- welcome to night vale [3]
- westmark [2]
- white collar [7]
- witch world [1]
- wolf hall [3]
- wonder woman [1]
- x-men [17]
- yu-gi-oh [6]
fat bear week [1]
february shitposting meme [14]
femgenficathon [54]
fic [1153]
- a song of ice and fire [3]
- addams family [1]
- agent carter [1]
- american gods [3]
- an ash-blonde witch [2]
- angel sanctuary [35]
- anita blake [27]
- arthurian mythology [3]
- avatar the last airbender [8]
- batman [7]
- black jewels [10]
- black panther [1]
- books of the raksura [4]
- bourne trilogy [3]
- btvs [69]
- captain america [8]
- cardcaptor sakura [4]
- chalion [5]
- charlotte's web [4]
- children of the star [2]
- chronicles of narnia [194]
- code geass [5]
- damar [2]
- daredevil [30]
- dark is rising [15]
- dbz [2]
- death note [4]
- defenders [4]
- diana wynne jones [10]
- digger [1]
- discworld [6]
- doctor who [9]
- dragaera [1]
- duck hunt [1]
- enchanted forest chronicles [34]
- ender's game [3]
- final fantasy 7 [4]
- firefly [1]
- gi joe rise of cobra [1]
- girl genius [4]
- girl with the silver eyes [3]
- glee [3]
- gormenghast [4]
- greek myth [2]
- guardians of the galaxy [9]
- gundam wing [37]
- hamilton [4]
- hamlet [1]
- haroun and the sea of stories [1]
- harry potter [207]
- hexwood [3]
- hikaru no go [2]
- homestuck [190]
- homeward bounders [7]
- howl's moving castle [5]
- imperial radch [1]
- inception [49]
- indiana jones [4]
- jessica jones [4]
- king lear [2]
- labyrinth [12]
- leverage [3]
- lions of al-rassan [1]
- looney tunes [1]
- lucifer [11]
- macbeth [2]
- mad max [5]
- mcu [37]
- merlin [8]
- murderbot diaries [7]
- naruto [160]
- nine worlds [8]
- othello [1]
- oz [7]
- pern [2]
- project hail mary [1]
- ranma 1/2 [8]
- riddle-master [1]
- rise of the guardians [3]
- rusty quill gaming [4]
- sailor moon [8]
- saiyuki [6]
- seaward [5]
- shakespeare [6]
- six of crows [4]
- spinning silver [1]
- star trek [35]
- star wars [6]
- stargate sg-1 [5]
- susan cooper [8]
- tam lin (pamela dean) [5]
- taz balance [1]
- temeraire [2]
- the bible [5]
- the darkangel [24]
- the hidden almanac [1]
- the hunger games [1]
- the magnus archives [30]
- the nightingale [1]
- the queen's thief [4]
- the sandman [6]
- tolkien (middle earth) [8]
- valdemar [1]
- victoria goddard [13]
- vorkosigan saga [7]
- welcome to night vale [2]
- white collar [3]
- wolf hall [3]
- x-men [14]
- yu-gi-oh [4]
ficathon [47]
financial stuff [123]
firsthome [84]
food [199]
fragment [62]
friends [225]
fun with coloring books [5]
genprompt bingo [39]
get your words out [6]
giftfic [128]
gifts [17]
grrr argh [508]
headdesk [6]
hetswap 2018 [4]
housing [169]
how is this my life [562]
humor [59]
ice cream sundae [10]
imaginary maps [7]
imsim [2]
intarre [7]
ironheart's war [11]
ithaca local [586]
ithaca paranormal [7]
jadefest [12]
joseph gordon-levitt (don't ask why) [14]
kanos [18]
kerr [2]
kinkmeme promptfic [22]
ladies bingo [24]
ladypalooza 2015 [5]
ladystuck [56]
ladystuck 2012 [8]
ladystuck 2013 [15]
ladystuck 2014 [10]
ladystuck 2015 [5]
ladystuck blind [4]
ladystuck remix [13]
lgbtfest [6]
linkspam [150]
liz attempts to cook [152]
liz edits stuff [1]
liz has a car! [14]
liz is thinky [792]
liz moves to minnesota [9]
liz stabs cloth with needles [3]
liz talks about personal stuff [657]
liz's adventures in video editing [5]
lydia winters [2]
madison [112]
master list of recs for my work [1]
medical [385]
meme [215]
mercverse [31]
meta [158]
mini-ficlet prompt meme [48]
minnesota [90]
misc fanfic [77]
monologue [19]
music [67]
nano 2004 [15]
nano 2006 [18]
nano 2007 [2]
nano 2008 [10]
nano 2010 [15]
nano 2011 [2]
nano 2012 [1]
nanowrimo [63]
narcissus project
- take 1 [2]
- take 2 [11]
narnia after dark [2]
narnia big bang [26]
narnia fic exchange [141]
narnia genderswap [9]
neighbors [54]
onion project
- 2017 [2]
original story [229]
ouroboros mix [13]
palestuck [4]
palestuck 2016 [4]
pat [19]
pepper project
- 2013 [21]
- 2014 [25]
- 2015 [17]
- 2016 [66]
- 2017 [32]
- 2018 [1]
- 2022 [1]
petunia evans dursley [9]
photographic proof [189]
plagiarism [1]
please help [120]
podfics and translations [15]
poetry [20]
politics [91]
poll [20]
questions [109]
quotes [120]
rain in spain falls mainly on the plain [13]
random [204]
rant [87]
reading [150]
recs [100]
religious education [158]
remix 2006 [10]
remix 2008 [16]
remix 2009 [15]
remix 2010 [23]
remix 2011 [23]
remix 2012 [12]
remix 2014 [13]
remix 2015 [6]
remix 2016 [1]
remix 2017 [4]
remix 2018 [6]
remix 2019 [4]
remix 2020 [3]
remix 2021 [4]
remix revival [18]
remixredux [132]
rereading secrets [14]
research [45]
reviews [318]
riverrun [3]
smoke shop [2]
snowflake challenge [8]
squash project
- 2017 [22]
- 2022 [1]
squee [196]
star island [127]
susan's wedding [8]
tales from the pit of voles [38]
thirtyforthree [91]
this is my heart let me show it to you [1]
thoughts on calormen [34]
three sentence ficathon [108]
travel [198]
unitarian universalist [503]
us politics [2]
vacation [105]
weather [224]
weirdness happens [55]
wip big bang [34]
work
- health garage [12]
- icsd [8]
- job searching [52]
- monopoly houses [502]
- not the irs [310]
- smoke shop [449]
- tooth fairy billing department [3]
world-building [229]
writing [1271]
wtf [96]
yuletide [193]
yuletide 2008 [13]
yuletide 2009 [24]
yuletide 2010 [17]
yuletide 2011 [17]
yuletide 2012 [15]
yuletide 2013 [20]
yuletide 2014 [6]
yuletide 2015 [8]
yuletide 2016 [17]
yuletide 2017 [7]
yuletide 2018 [12]
yuletide 2019 [10]
yuletide 2020 [7]
yuletide 2021 [4]
yuletide 2022 [7]
yuletide 2023 [3]
yuletide 2025 [2]

Page Summary

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags