St. Athanasius

Gloria est Sancti Athanasii quod se non tempori accomodavit; præmia est quod nunc manet cum illud tempus, more omnium temporum, decessit.

It is St. Athanasius’ glory that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, as all times do, have moved away.

 

—C. S. Lewis

Tyrannies

 

Ἐκ τῶν πασῶν τῶν δεσποτείων, δεσποτεία ἕνεκα τῶν πασχόντων ἀπλῶς διοκουμένη βαρυτάτη εἴη. Ἀμείνων εἴη ἀρχιλῃστῶν ἀρχόντων βιοῦν ἢ παγκρατῶν σωφρονιστικῶν. Ἡ μὲν τοῦ ἀρχιλῃστοῦ ὠμότης ἐνίοτε καθεύδῃ, ἡ δὲ φιλοχρηματία ἔσθ’ ὅτε κορέστος· ἀλλ’ οἱ ἡμῶν ἕνεκα αἰκιζομένοι ἡμᾶς αἰκίσονται ἐκτὸς τῷ παύεσθαι, αἰκίζονται γὰρ εὐσυνειδήτοι.

 

Ek tôn pasôn tôn despoteíōn, despoteía héneka tôn paschóntōn aplôs diokouménē barytátē eíē. Ameínōn eíē archilēstôn archóntōn bioûn ē pankratôn sōphronistikôn. Hē men toû archilēstoû ōmótēs eníote katheúdē, hē de philochrēmatía ésth’ hóte koréstos; all’ hoi hēmôn héneka aikizoménoi hēmâs aikísontai ektos tô paúesthai, aikízontai gar eusyneidḗtoi.

 

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

 

—C. S. Lewis

Lives for others

 

 

Illa est mulier quæ pro aliis vivat. Alios indicant vultūs exagitati.

 

She’s the sort of woman who lives for others. You can tell the others by their hunted expressions.

 

—C. S. Lewis

Eustace Clarence Scrubb

Puer erat cui nomen Eustacus Clarentius Scrubb, et pæne juste.

 

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

 

—C. S. Lewis, De Navigatione “Perigrinantis Aurorae” (The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”)