Watch Out for These Fake C.S. Lewis Quotes

Unfortunately, C.S. Lewis seems to be one of the world’s most misquoted authors, at least on social media. For the past few years, William O’Flaherty from EssentialCSLewis.com has been documenting false Lewis quotes, researching their actual origin, and setting the record straight. NarniaWeb supports the effort to prevent these errors from spreading further.

If you are ever doubtful about the authenticity of a quote attributed to C.S. Lewis, post it on the Confirming C.S. Lewis Quotes Facebook page.

Here are some examples:

  • “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.”
    Actual source: George MacDonald (paraphrase)
  • “Be weird. Be random. Be who you are. Because you never know who would love the person you hide.”
    Actual source: Unknown
  • “You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”
    Actual source: Les Brown
  • “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.”
    Actual source: Dr. John Trainer

View more reported false quotes here.

And, check out the new series about William’s research on the All About Jack podcast.

4 Responses

  1. Yay my fav one isn't on that list!

  2. Tess Agnew says:

    Wow for some reason I always thought that soul quote was from Lewis and I want to be disappointed, but considering how much I love MacDonald too this still makes me happy. 🙂

  3. Stylteralmaldo says:

    I'm actually glad Lewis didn't make the soul quote. We have a body AND a soul. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

  4. Hermitess of Narnia says:

    That is a good point. I'd actually heard that soul quote attributed to Lewis before, but since the quote is not completely accurate I'm glad it wasn't really invented by Lewis.