--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As to my intense wish never to come into…" description: "\"“As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the eldila myself, I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/c-s-lewis-121_quote_as-to-my-intense-wish-never-to-come-into_1367057.jpg" --- # As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the… ![“As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the eldila myself, I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in kind, very powerful and very intelligent. The truth was that all I heard about them served to connect…” quote by C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/c-s-lewis-121_quote_as-to-my-intense-wish-never-to-come-into_1367057.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/c-s-lewis-121_quote_as-to-my-intense-wish-never-to-come-into_1367057.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09d/c-s-lewis-121_quote_as-to-my-intense-wish-never-to-come-into_1367057.jpg) > ““As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the eldila myself, I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in kind, very powerful and very intelligent. The truth was that all I heard about them served to connect two things which one’s mind tends to keep separate, and that connecting gave one a sort of shock. We tend to think about non-human intelligences in two distinct categories which we label “scientific” and “supernatural” respectively. We think, in one mood, of Mr. Wells’ Martians…In quite a different mood we let our minds loose on the possibility of angels, ghosts, fairies, and the like. But the very moment we are compelled to recognize a creature in either class as real the distinction begins to get blurred: and when it is a creature like and eldil the distinction vanishes altogether. These things were not animals—to that extent one had to classify them with the second group; but they had some kind of material vehicle whose presence could (in principle) be scientifically verified. To that extent they belonged to the first group. The distinction between natural and supernatural, in fact, broke down; and when it had done so, one realised how great a comfort it had been—how it has eased the burden of tolerable strangeness which this universe imposes on us by dividing it into two halves and encouraging the mind never to think of both in the same context. What price we may have paid for this comfort in the way of false security and accepted confusion of thought is another matter.”” [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explores how categorizing non‑human intelligences as either scientific or supernatural creates a comforting but false division, and confronting beings that blur this line reveals both wonder and unsettling uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Dividing alien beings into science or magic comforts us, but real encounters break that illusion. Key Takeaway Question the comfort of easy categories. Themes philosophy science theology psychology Mood curious thoughtful analytical Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - reading speculative fiction - discussing AI ethics - exploring religious experiences - teaching critical thinking Key Concepts categorization cognitive dissonance unknown intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How do we handle entities that defy our categories? - What risks arise from relying on comforting binaries? A Different Perspective The dichotomy may oversimplify complex phenomena and lead to misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alien Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alien-kind-3834642/) [Creatures Alien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures-alien-4416575/) [Natural Supernatural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-supernatural-666914/) [Scientific Supernatural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-supernatural-4416577/) [Supernatural Fact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supernatural-fact-2163702/) ## Related quotes > [“I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-am-not-sure-whether-i-can-make-you-understand-it-it-was-something/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. 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Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright-2/) > [Mysticism occurs whenever a human being sees the separation between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal, as overcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/mysticism-occurs-whenever-a-human-being-sees-the-separation-between/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The problem of the novelist who wishes to write about a man's encounter with God is how he shall make the experience--which is both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-problem-of-the-novelist-who-wishes-to-write-about-a-man-s/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## More by C.S. 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Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/he-sees-as-well-as-you-do-that-courage-is-not-simply-one-of-the/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-you-do-not-take-the-distinction-between-good-and-bad-very/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/now-the-whole-offer-which-christianity-makes-is-this-that-we-can-if/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) [Explore all 1,165 C.S. Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## More Natural Supernatural quotes > [“The world of magic is double, natural, and supernatural. Magic is impossible in a purely materialist world, a purely sceptical world, a world of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/the-world-of-magic-is-double-natural-and-supernatural-magic-is/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [The border between the natural and the supernatural, religion and philosophy, may not always be clear. But there are lines, and we should know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/the-border-between-the-natural-and-the-supernatural-religion-and/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [“I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-am-not-sure-whether-i-can-make-you-understand-it-it-was-something/) [C.S. 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