基督徒的生活道路與此相似，最可怕、幾乎不可能的事是向基督交出整個的自我——你一切的願望和顧慮。但是，與我們所有人都極力想做的事情相比，這要容易得多，因為我 們極力想做的是：一方面保持所謂的「自己」，以個人的幸福為生活的遠大目標，另一方面又想「為善」。我們都極力想放任自己的心意——以金錢、快樂、野心為中心，同時，又希望行為誠實、正派、謙卑。這正是基 督告誡我們無法做到的，正如他所說，蒺藜上結不出無花果來。我若是一塊只有草籽的田地，就長不出麥子，割草可以防止草瘋長，但是我仍然只會長草，不長麥子。我若想長麥子，就不能停留在表層的改變，必須翻地，重新播種。―《返璞歸真》Mere Christianity，221頁，C·S·路易斯（C. S. Lewis）著/汪詠梅譯，華東師範大學出版社，2007。
"The
terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—
all your wishes and precautions— to Christ. But it is far easier than what we
are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we
call ‘ourselves’, to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet
at the same time be ‘good’. We are all trying to let our mind and heart go
their own way-- centered on money or pleasure or ambition— and hoping, in spite
of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what
Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs.
If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat.
Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no
wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface.
I must be plowed up and re-sown."