--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no real personalities apart…" description: "\"“There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg" --- # There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you… ![“There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most 'natural' men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerers have been; how…” quote by C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg) > ““There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most 'natural' men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerers have been; how gloriously different are the saints. But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away 'blindly' so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality; but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him...Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”” [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. True identity is found only by surrendering self to Christ; self‑centeredness yields emptiness, while Christ‑centeredness brings genuine personality. **In simple terms:** Giving up self to Christ creates a true self. Key Takeaway Seek Christ, not personal ego. Themes spirituality self‑sacrifice identity Mood reflective hopeful serious Type theological philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - prayer - service - counseling - community involvement - personal reflection Key Concepts theology personal transformation Questions to Reflect On - What does “real self” mean to you? - How can you balance personal identity with spiritual surrender? A Different Perspective The call to self‑denial can be misunderstood as loss of individuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) [First step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-step/) [Long run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-run/) [Real Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-personality-314251/) [Real self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-self/) [Self Altogether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-altogether-5043086/) [Self Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-christ-734184/) [Self Sameness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sameness-5390980/) ## Related quotes > [“But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away "blindly" so to speak. Christ will indeed give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/but-there-must-be-a-real-giving-up-of-the-self-you-must-throw-it-away/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/your-real-new-self-which-is-christ-s-and-also-yours-and-yours-just/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“25 He who loves his life shall lose it (hits at the very heart of man’s problem; it could be paraphrased, “He who loves self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-swaggart/25-he-who-loves-his-life-shall-lose-it-hits-at-the-very-heart-of-man/) [Jimmy Swaggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-swaggart/) > [The victorious Christian neither exalts nor downgrades himself. His interests have shifted from self to Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/the-victorious-christian-neither-exalts-nor-downgrades-himself-his-2/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Nobody can become king except the one who is supposed to be king, the one who contains the idea of the Self. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/nobody-can-become-king-except-the-one-who-is-supposed-to-be-king-the/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) > [False self is an identity based on what you have, what you do, and what others think about you. In stark contrast to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-pennington/false-self-is-an-identity-based-on-what-you-have-what-you-do-and-what/) [Basil Pennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-pennington/) > [Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/your-real-new-self-which-is-christ-s-and-also-yours-and-yours-just-2/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The victorious Christian neither exalts nor downgrades himself. His interests have shifted from self to Christ. What he is or is not no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/the-victorious-christian-neither-exalts-nor-downgrades-himself-his/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Perhaps the True Self--and the full Christ Mystery (not the same as organized Christianity)--will always live in the backwaters of any empire and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/perhaps-the-true-self-and-the-full-christ-mystery-not-the-same-as/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [As you expand your meditation practice, in concert with your faith, you will find that these divine moments come more often, until you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-finley/as-you-expand-your-meditation-practice-in-concert-with-your-faith-you/) [James Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-finley/) > [“Christianity has gotten so far from the accurate realities of the Christ Principle taht even Jesus would probably distance himself from it. Jesus was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlton-pearson/christianity-has-gotten-so-far-from-the-accurate-realities-of-the/) [Carlton Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlton-pearson/) > [“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lweis/give-up-yourself-and-you-will-find-your-real-self-lose-your-life-and/) [C.S. Lweis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lweis/) > [“You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/you-will-never-make-a-good-impression-on-other-people-until-you-stop/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/until-you-have-given-up-your-self-to-him-you-will-not-have-a-real-self/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [My real personality comes out in the country. More spontaneous, more excited. There's always someone watching you in the city - you're a sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-tyler/my-real-personality-comes-out-in-the-country-more-spontaneous-more/) [Liv Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-tyler/) ## 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. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“the greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects. No one has time to do more than a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-greatest-service-we-can-do-to-education-today-is-to-teach-fewer/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-the-divine-call-does-not-make-us-better-it-will-make-us-very-much/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-husband-is-the-head-of-the-wife-just-in-so-far-as-he-is-to-her/) [C.S. 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 Christ quotes > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“I would even go so far as to say that the mythical character of a life is just what expresses its universal human validity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/i-would-even-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-the-mythical-character-of-a/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When the Lord Jesus Christ became my surety . . . He went to Calvary's cross, and all my guilt was charged against Him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-allen-ironside/when-the-lord-jesus-christ-became-my-surety-he-went-to-calvary-s/) [Henry Allen Ironside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-allen-ironside/) > [It's going to be used in the last days to get people to come against Christ, and that's the issue: they come against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/it-s-going-to-be-used-in-the-last-days-to-get-people-to-come-against/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [May nothing entice me till I happily make my way to Jesus Christ! Fire, cross, struggles with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-antioch/may-nothing-entice-me-till-i-happily-make-my-way-to-jesus-christ-fire/) [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-antioch/) > [Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ doesn't seek the glory of Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/whoever-does-not-seek-the-cross-of-christ-doesn-t-seek-the-glory-of/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [Christ never preached any funeral sermons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/christ-never-preached-any-funeral-sermons/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [One thing the young Christian should be taught as quickly as possible after his conversion is that Jesus Christ is all he needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/one-thing-the-young-christian-should-be-taught-as-quickly-as-possible/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If you don't plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-arthur/if-you-don-t-plan-to-live-the-christian-life-totally-committed-to/) [Kay Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-arthur/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) [Browse all 9,006 Christ quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most 'natural' men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerers have been; how gloriously different are the saints. But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away 'blindly' so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality; but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him...Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.S. Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-from-god-until-you-have-given/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Christ" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-from-god-until-you-have-given/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/c-s-lewis-121_christ_there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-fr_1479744.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a…” — C.S. Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "C.S. Lewis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are no real personalities apart...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-from-god-until-you-have-given/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/there-are-no-real-personalities-apart-from-god-until-you-have-given/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```