What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
Über den Autor
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a British scholar, novelist, and Christian thinker who taught English literature at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewis showed exceptional literary talent from childhood, creating imaginary worlds populated with talking animals alongside his brother Warren. His mother’s death when he was nine and his experiences in World War I profoundly shaped his worldview.
Lewis belonged to the Inklings, a literary group that included friends such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. This Oxford-based circle of writers met weekly to discuss their work and ideas. Lewis’s friendship with Tolkien played a significant role in his conversion from atheism to Christianity in his early thirties. Lewis turned to theism in 1930 and to Christianity in 1931, partly with the help of his close friend and devout Roman Catholic J.R.R. Tolkien.
During World War II, Lewis gave radio broadcasts for the BBC that later became his famous book “Mere Christianity.” His works span fantasy, science fiction, theology, and literary criticism. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and have been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Die Bedeutung des Zitats
The quote cuts straight to the heart of human perception and bias. Lewis points out that our physical position and personal character fundamentally shape what we perceive and understand. Two people can witness the same event yet come away with completely different interpretations based on their vantage point and inner nature.
Consider how witnesses to an accident often give conflicting accounts. Each person stands in a different spot, notices different details, and filters the experience through their own fears, assumptions and past experiences. A child sees a playground where an adult sees liability risks. An artist notices colours and shadows that an engineer might overlook completely.
The quote teaches us three practical lessons:
Lewis understood this principle deeply. His own journey from atheism to faith required him to step outside his intellectual position and consider reality from a different vantage point. He had to acknowledge that his materialist worldview might be limiting what he could see and understand about existence.
Next time you disagree with someone, pause and ask yourself two questions:
Rather than dismissing their viewpoint, try to understand the position from which they observe the world.
This practice transforms conflicts into opportunities for deeper understanding. It turns arguments into explorations. Most importantly, it reminds us that truth often lies beyond any single person’s limited viewpoint.
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