--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we accept Heaven we shall not be able…" description: "\"If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.\" — C. S. Lewis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/c-s-lewis-2-132_able_if-we-accept-heaven-we-shall-not-be-able_835062.png" --- # If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even… ![“If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.” quote by C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/c-s-lewis-2-132_able_if-we-accept-heaven-we-shall-not-be-able_835062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/c-s-lewis-2-132_able_if-we-accept-heaven-we-shall-not-be-able_835062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/c-s-lewis-2-132_able_if-we-accept-heaven-we-shall-not-be-able_835062.png) > “If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.” [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Accepting a perfect heaven may cause us to forget the reality and lessons of suffering. **In simple terms:** Heaven can blind us to hell’s truths. Key Takeaway Balance hope with awareness of suffering. Themes theology philosophy hope pain spirituality Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual counseling - literary analysis - ethical teaching Key Concepts dualism existential risk moral memory Questions to Reflect On - What does forgetting hell imply for moral responsibility? - How can we honor both hope and reality? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on heaven may diminish empathy for those suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great divorce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-divorce/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) [Souvenirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souvenirs/) ## Related quotes > [“If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-we-insist-on-keeping-hell-or-even-earth-we-shall-not-see-heaven-if/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/all-that-are-in-hell-choose-it-without-that-self-choice-there-could/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Lust is a poor, weak, whimpering, whispering thing compared with that richness and energy of desire which will arise when lust has been killed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/lust-is-a-poor-weak-whimpering-whispering-thing-compared-with-that/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-would-seem-that-our-lord-finds-our-desires-not-too-strong-but-too/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/we-are-half-hearted-creatures-fooling-about-with-drink-and-sex-and-2/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [No, I don’t wish I knew Heaven was like the picture in my Great Divorce, because, if we knew that, we should know it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/no-i-don-t-wish-i-knew-heaven-was-like-the-picture-in-my-great/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even agony into a glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/heaven-once-attained-will-work-backwards-and-turn-even-agony-into-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [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/all-hell-is-smaller-than-one-pebble-of-your-earthly-world-but-it-is-2/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective...That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporary suffering, 'No future bliss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/both-good-and-evil-when-they-are-full-grown-become-retrospective-that/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/there-have-been-men-before-now-who-got-so-interested-in-proving-the/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell; and earth, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/i-think-earth-if-chosen-instead-of-heaven-will-turn-out-to-have-been/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-good-man-s-past-begins-to-change-so-that-his-forgiven-sins-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Every poet and musician and artist, but for grace">Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells to love of the telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/every-poet-and-musician-and-artist-but-for-grace-grace-is-drawn-away/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/i-gave-in-and-admitted-that-god-was-god-and-knelt-and-prayed-perhaps/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-demand-of-the-loveless-and-the-self-imprisoned-that-they-should/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## More by C. S. Lewis > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Either Jesus is the Son of God ; or a madman or worse. But His being just a great teacher? He's not left that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/either-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-or-a-madman-or-worse-but-his-being/) [C. S. 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Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-first-fact-in-the-history-of-christendom-is-a-number-of-people/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I#pray because the need flows out of me all the time-walking and sleeping. It does not change # God - it changes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/i-pray-because-the-need-flows-out-of-me-all-the-time-walking-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Are the gods not just?' 'Oh no, child. What would become us us if they were?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/are-the-gods-not-just-oh-no-child-what-would-become-us-us-if-they-were/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Love is more than an emotion, it is a decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/love-is-more-than-an-emotion-it-is-a-decision/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Ink is the great cure for all human ills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/ink-is-the-great-cure-for-all-human-ills/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/a-man-may-have-to-die-for-our-country-but-no-man-must-in-any/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/war-creates-no-absolutely-new-situation-it-simply-aggravates-the/) [C. S. 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