--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The bad psychological material is not a…" description: "\"“The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And by the way, that is very important..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg" --- # The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease… ![“The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And by the way, that is very important. Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices. When a neurotic who has a pathological horror of…” quote by C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg) > ““The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And by the way, that is very important. Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices. When a neurotic who has a pathological horror of cats forces himself to pick up a cat for some good reason, it is quite possible that in God's eyes he has shown more courage than a healthy man may have shown in winning the V.C. When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing does dome tiny little kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God's eyes, be doing more than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend. It is as well to put this the other way round. Some of us who seem quite nice people may, in fact, have made so little use of a good heredity and good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom we regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved if we had been saddled with the psychological outfit, and then with the bad upbringing, and then with the power, say, of Himmler? That is why Christians are told not to judge. We see only the results which a man's choices make out of his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it. Most of the man's psychological makeup is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or worst out of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to a good digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises.”” [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. Moral worth is judged by choices, not by innate psychological flaws; divine judgment focuses on actions, not raw material. **In simple terms:** God judges deeds, not mental illness. Key Takeaway Judge actions, not origins. Themes morality judgment psychology faith compassion Mood reflective thoughtful spiritual Type philosophical theological inspirational When to use this quote - counseling - ethical decision making - personal growth - theological study Key Concepts free will ethical responsibility spiritual discernment Questions to Reflect On - How do we fairly assess others when we know little of their inner struggles? - Can compassion replace condemnation in moral evaluation? A Different Perspective Human judgment is limited; psychological factors can mask true character. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-health/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) [God's Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods-eye/) [Judgement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgement/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Nice people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice-people/) [Right thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-thing/) ## Related quotes > [“Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices. When a neurotic who has a pathological horror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/human-beings-judge-one-another-by-their-external-actions-god-judges-2/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a-sin-but-a-disease-it-does-not-2/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Modern man became psychological because he became isolated from protective collective ideologies. He had to justify himself from within himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/modern-man-became-psychological-because-he-became-isolated-from/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/human-beings-judge-one-another-by-their-external-actions-god-judges/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It was woman that taught me cruelty, and on woman therefore I have exercised it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/it-was-woman-that-taught-me-cruelty-and-on-woman-therefore-i-have/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [There's a lot of psychological material that you inherit from your family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-leonard/there-s-a-lot-of-psychological-material-that-you-inherit-from-your/) [Zoe Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-leonard/) > [“...It also taught me that while cruelty can be fun for a few moments, compassion has a much longer shelf life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-orion/it-also-taught-me-that-while-cruelty-can-be-fun-for-a-few-moments/) Doreen Orion > [Spiritual energy flows in and produces effects, psychological or material, within the phenomenal world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/spiritual-energy-flows-in-and-produces-effects-psychological-or/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“When the subject is sacred, proud and clever men may come to think that the outsiders who don't know it are not merely inferior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/when-the-subject-is-sacred-proud-and-clever-men-may-come-to-think/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [The absence of high-quality friendships is bad for your health, spirits, productivity, and longevity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rath/the-absence-of-high-quality-friendships-is-bad-for-your-health/) [Tom Rath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rath/) > [After 2014, a number of my friends from Delhi rang up very concerned because they thought I was in bad health. But my health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-patnaik/after-2014-a-number-of-my-friends-from-delhi-rang-up-very-concerned/) [Naveen Patnaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-patnaik/) > [You have to realize that your work is done by your body, and if your body is in very bad health, it's not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reynolds-price/you-have-to-realize-that-your-work-is-done-by-your-body-and-if-your/) [Reynolds Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reynolds-price/) > [I believe that stress is a factor in any bad health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-that-stress-is-a-factor-in-any-bad-health/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In life the things that seems good for you, are the things that's bad for your health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-coleman/in-life-the-things-that-seems-good-for-you-are-the-things-that-s-bad/) [Damian Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-coleman/) > [“I tell you, because military training is not publicly recognised by the state, you must not make that an excuse for being a whit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xenophon-memorabilia-371bc-marchant-translation/i-tell-you-because-military-training-is-not-publicly-recognised-by/) Xenophon Memorabilia. 371BC Marchant translation ## More by C.S. Lewis > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Isn’t it absolutely essential to keep a fierce Left and a fierce Right, both on their toes and each terrified of the other?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/isn-t-it-absolutely-essential-to-keep-a-fierce-left-and-a-fierce/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/all-hell-is-smaller-than-one-pebble-of-your-earthly-world-but-it-is/) [C.S. 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Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he "wants a woman". Strictly speaking, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/we-use-a-most-unfortunate-idiom-when-we-say-of-a-lustful-man-prowling/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Después de cada fracaso, pedid perdón, levantaos del suelo y volved a intentarlo. Muy a menudo, lo que Dios nos otorga primero no es…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/despu-s-de-cada-fracaso-pedid-perd-n-levantaos-del-suelo-y-volved-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/then-two-wonders-happened-at-the-same-moment-one-was-that-the-voice/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/because-free-will-though-it-makes-evil-possible-is-also-the-only/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/laugh-and-fear-not-creatures-now-that-you-are-no-longer-dumb-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/when-two-humans-have-lived-together-for-many-years-it-usually-happens/) [C.S. 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 Bad health quotes > [“I tell you, because military training is not publicly recognised by the state, you must not make that an excuse for being a whit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xenophon-memorabilia-371bc-marchant-translation/i-tell-you-because-military-training-is-not-publicly-recognised-by/) Xenophon Memorabilia. 371BC Marchant translation > [In life the things that seems good for you, are the things that's bad for your health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-coleman/in-life-the-things-that-seems-good-for-you-are-the-things-that-s-bad/) [Damian Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-coleman/) > [I believe that stress is a factor in any bad health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-that-stress-is-a-factor-in-any-bad-health/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You have to realize that your work is done by your body, and if your body is in very bad health, it's not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reynolds-price/you-have-to-realize-that-your-work-is-done-by-your-body-and-if-your/) [Reynolds Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reynolds-price/) > [After 2014, a number of my friends from Delhi rang up very concerned because they thought I was in bad health. But my health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-patnaik/after-2014-a-number-of-my-friends-from-delhi-rang-up-very-concerned/) [Naveen Patnaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-patnaik/) > [The absence of high-quality friendships is bad for your health, spirits, productivity, and longevity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rath/the-absence-of-high-quality-friendships-is-bad-for-your-health/) [Tom Rath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rath/) > [“Reading celebrity magazines is like eating poo. Don’t do it: it’s bad for your health.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-mart-nez/reading-celebrity-magazines-is-like-eating-poo-don-t-do-it-it-s-bad/) [Francesca Martínez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-mart-nez/) > [Hillary Clinton wants to keep Obamacare and she wants to make it even worse, and it can't get any worse. Bad health care at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/hillary-clinton-wants-to-keep-obamacare-and-she-wants-to-make-it-even/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Florence Nightingale was an amazing figure. She created the American Red Cross. She saw the suffering from bad health conditions on the battlefield and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/florence-nightingale-was-an-amazing-figure-she-created-the-american/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [“Any idea what the land is worth?” Samantha asked. Mrs. Crump crunched her dentures and said, “A lot more than anybody knows. You see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/any-idea-what-the-land-is-worth-samantha-asked-mrs-crump-crunched-her/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [I think it's horrible that people have to be told. Don't smoke! Everybody knows it's bad for the health. But they have to forbid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/i-think-it-s-horrible-that-people-have-to-be-told-don-t-smoke/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [“Saying this is bad is like saying traffic is bad, or health-care surtaxes, or the hazards of annular fusion: nobody but Ludditic granola-crunching freaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/saying-this-is-bad-is-like-saying-traffic-is-bad-or-health-care/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [What we know from World War I is that some of our troops had acute symptoms of exposure to chemicals, had bad health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-shays/what-we-know-from-world-war-i-is-that-some-of-our-troops-had-acute/) [Christopher Shays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-shays/) > [“Water is very bad for one’s health. People in third world countries seem to drink nothing but water, and they are always dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/water-is-very-bad-for-one-s-health-people-in-third-world-countries/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > ['Bad' health, in a thousand different forms, is used as an excuse for failing to do what a person wants to do, failing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-joseph-schwartz/bad-health-in-a-thousand-different-forms-is-used-as-an-excuse-for/) [David Joseph Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-joseph-schwartz/) [Browse all 53 Bad health quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-health/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And by the way, that is very important. Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices. When a neurotic who has a pathological horror of cats forces himself to pick up a cat for some good reason, it is quite possible that in God's eyes he has shown more courage than a healthy man may have shown in winning the V.C. When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing does dome tiny little kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God's eyes, be doing more than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend. It is as well to put this the other way round. Some of us who seem quite nice people may, in fact, have made so little use of a good heredity and good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom we regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved if we had been saddled with the psychological outfit, and then with the bad upbringing, and then with the power, say, of Himmler? That is why Christians are told not to judge. We see only the results which a man's choices make out of his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it. Most of the man's psychological makeup is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or worst out of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to a good digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.S. Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a-sin-but-a-disease-it-does-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad health" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a-sin-but-a-disease-it-does-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f62/c-s-lewis-121_bad-health_the-bad-psychological-material-is-not-a_332425.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be…” — C.S. 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