--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a poor thing to strike our colors…" description: "\"It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg" --- # It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the… ![“It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own' when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will…” quote by C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg) > “It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own' when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.” [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. God’s humility contrasts with human pride; even in crisis, divine love persists, offering redemption despite our preferences. **In simple terms:** God’s humility vs. human pride; love endures. Key Takeaway Seek humility and trust divine compassion. Themes theology humility faith Mood reverent hopeful Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - prayer - ethical decisions - counseling - personal reflection Key Concepts Christian doctrine spiritual struggle Questions to Reflect On - How does humility affect faith during hardship? - What does “stoops to conquer” mean to you? A Different Perspective May be interpreted doctrinally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Last resort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-resort/) [Proud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proud/) [Resorts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resorts/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) ## Related quotes > [Like white light refracted through a prism and split into many colors, God's eternal love-nature, expressed through the prism of time, becomes God's multicolored…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/like-white-light-refracted-through-a-prism-and-split-into-many-colors/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [“Deuteronomy reminds us that if we want to claim our rightful spiritual inheritance, we need to continually renew our dedication to our faithful, covenant-keeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-neal-matthews/deuteronomy-reminds-us-that-if-we-want-to-claim-our-rightful/) [Dianne Neal Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-neal-matthews/) > [“Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for a moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/let-me-implore-the-reader-to-try-to-believe-if-only-for-a-moment-that/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/as-long-as-you-are-proud-you-cannot-know-god-a-proud-man-is-always/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [O believer, learn to reject pride, seeing that you have no ground for it. Whatever you are, you have nothing to make you proud.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/o-believer-learn-to-reject-pride-seeing-that-you-have-no-ground-for/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [I LOVE GOD and I'm proud to say that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-grace/i-love-god-and-i-m-proud-to-say-that/) Mary Grace > [I love God. I am proud to say that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-of-god/i-love-god-i-am-proud-to-say-that/) Angel\_of\_God > [I've been able to stay good because of my family and keeping God first. If you don't have God in your life, how are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keke-palmer/i-ve-been-able-to-stay-good-because-of-my-family-and-keeping-god/) [Keke Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keke-palmer/) > [I'll live happily in the same situation keeping as it were are god /as keeping god . I do not have much of a temptation,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/i-ll-live-happily-in-the-same-situation-keeping-as-it-were-are-god-as/) Mak\_786 > [The thing is about life is you just got to continue in it, never give up it may get hard but keep on keeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/telisa-mclaughlin/the-thing-is-about-life-is-you-just-got-to-continue-in-it-never-give/) [Telisa McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/telisa-mclaughlin/) > [The greatest feeling in all the world is when God is proud of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/the-greatest-feeling-in-all-the-world-is-when-god-is-proud-of-you/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I love God, and I'm proud to say it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-love-god-and-i-m-proud-to-say-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prostitutes-are-in-no-danger-of-finding-their-present-life-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sleep is a god too proud to wait in palaces, and yet so humble too as not to scorn the meanest country cottages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cowley/sleep-is-a-god-too-proud-to-wait-in-palaces-and-yet-so-humble-too-as/) [Abraham Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cowley/) > [Doth any man live more to himself, or less to God, than the proud?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/doth-any-man-live-more-to-himself-or-less-to-god-than-the-proud/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) ## 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. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [To every soul, God will look like its first love because He IS its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/to-every-soul-god-will-look-like-its-first-love-because-he-is-its/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Don't you understand anything? Isn't it absolutely essential to keep a fierce Left and a fierce Right, both on their toes and each terrified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/don-t-you-understand-anything-isn-t-it-absolutely-essential-to-keep-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“Really great moral teachers never do introduce new moralities: it is quacks and cranks who do that. As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/really-great-moral-teachers-never-do-introduce-new-moralities-it-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/when-he-died-in-the-wounded-world-he-died-not-for-men-but-for-each/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/all-i-am-in-private-life-is-a-literary-critic-and-historian-that-s-my/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [If a man is going to write on chemistry, he learns chemistry. The same is true of Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/if-a-man-is-going-to-write-on-chemistry-he-learns-chemistry-the-same/) [C. S. 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. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) [Explore all 1,190 C. S. Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## More Color quotes > [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [The color of somebody's skin or the way he wears his hair or clothes has nothing to do with anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-color-of-somebody-s-skin-or-the-way-he-wears-his-hair-or-clothes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ['Lovecraft Country' is reclaiming all these pulp genres for people of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-green/lovecraft-country-is-reclaiming-all-these-pulp-genres-for-people-of/) [Misha Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-green/) > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [A well-fashioned day - with a beginning and an end, a purpose and a content, a color and a character, a feel and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/a-well-fashioned-day-with-a-beginning-and-an-end-a-purpose-and-a/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're wrong, you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/if-you-re-white-and-you-re-wrong-then-you-re-wrong-if-you-re-black/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/) [Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/) > [Orange is my favorite color overall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt-jr/orange-is-my-favorite-color-overall/) [Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt-jr/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [We have to keep in practice like musicians. Besides, there are still potentialities to be realized in color film. To us, it's just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/we-have-to-keep-in-practice-like-musicians-besides-there-are-still/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It is exactly in the repetition of the exercises that the education of the senses exists; not that the child shall know colors, forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-exactly-in-the-repetition-of-the-exercises-that-the-education/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) [Browse all 5,594 Color quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own' when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C. S. Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors-to-god-when-the-ship-is-going/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Color" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors-to-god-when-the-ship-is-going/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/c-s-lewis-2-132_color_it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors_2974296.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to…” — 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/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is a poor thing to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors-to-god-when-the-ship-is-going/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-a-poor-thing-to-strike-our-colors-to-god-when-the-ship-is-going/#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 } } ] } ```