--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Surely what a man does when he is taken…" description: "\"Surely what a man does when he is taken off guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/c-s-lewis-2-132_cellars_surely-what-a-man-does-when-he-is-taken_1639902.png" --- # Surely what a man does when he is taken off guard is the… ![“Surely what a man does when he is taken off guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the…” quote by C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/c-s-lewis-2-132_cellars_surely-what-a-man-does-when-he-is-taken_1639902.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/c-s-lewis-2-132_cellars_surely-what-a-man-does-when-he-is-taken_1639902.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/c-s-lewis-2-132_cellars_surely-what-a-man-does-when-he-is-taken_1639902.png) > “Surely what a man does when he is taken off guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.” [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. A person's true nature is revealed under pressure, not by the circumstances that provoke it. **In simple terms:** Stress shows who we really are. Key Takeaway Observe reactions in sudden challenges. Themes character psychology integrity Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - crisis management - personal growth - leadership training Key Concepts self‑knowledge stress response authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What does your reaction to surprise reveal? - Can you separate cause from character? A Different Perspective People may blame external triggers for their behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cellars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cellars/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Hiding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiding/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Ill tempered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill-tempered/) [Inspirational life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational-life/) [Man Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-rats-557763/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Provocation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/provocation/) [Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats/) [Rats Prevents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats-prevents-557767/) [Show me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/show-me/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Suddenness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenness-557766/) [Suddenness Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenness-does-557765/) [Suddenness Provocation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenness-provocation-557764/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“Ohhhh! What do we have here? That don’t sound like no man cry, ’less the rats gone and brung some boys to fight.” He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quoleena-sbrocca/ohhhh-what-do-we-have-here-that-don-t-sound-like-no-man-cry-less-the/) [Quoleena Sbrocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quoleena-sbrocca/) > [“The rats had crept out of their holes to look on, and they remained looking on for hours; soldiers and police often passing between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-rats-had-crept-out-of-their-holes-to-look-on-and-they-remained/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Provocation doesn't make me ill-tempered: it only shows me how ill-tempered I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/provocation-doesn-t-make-me-ill-tempered-it-only-shows-me-how-ill/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Suddenness," he says. " You do not prepare, you do not explain, you do not apologize. Suddenly, you go. And with you, you take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/suddenness-he-says-you-do-not-prepare-you-do-not-explain-you-do-not/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“You are my winter suddenness—a glass of red wine spilt across a white tablecloth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-j-geddes/you-are-my-winter-suddenness-a-glass-of-red-wine-spilt-across-a-white/) [john j geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-j-geddes/) > [“...a flood of reality. 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The old fairy tales contain a lot of that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/children-are-much-more-understanding-of-the-suddenness-and/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) > [There's something about the shape that a poem takes in my mind before I write it that has to do with suddenness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/there-s-something-about-the-shape-that-a-poem-takes-in-my-mind-before/) [Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/) > [In our human lives, we are often impatient, ill-tempered, inappropriate. We find it difficult to treat our intimates with the love we really hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/in-our-human-lives-we-are-often-impatient-ill-tempered-inappropriate/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [Much of the ill-tempered railing against women that has characterized the popular writing of the last two years is a half-heartedattempt to find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/much-of-the-ill-tempered-railing-against-women-that-has-characterized-2/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Of ill-temper there are three kinds: irascibility, bitterness, sullenness. It belongs to the ill-tempered man to be unable to bear either small slights or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/of-ill-temper-there-are-three-kinds-irascibility-bitterness/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Waitresses, soldiers, rickshaw drivers, old ladies selling vegetables - my father would schmooze anybody. He was Clintonesque before the word existed. And, of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-anderson/waitresses-soldiers-rickshaw-drivers-old-ladies-selling-vegetables-my/) [Scott Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-anderson/) ## 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 Cellars quotes > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If I was at the Comedy Cellar at midnight you yelled at the back of the room. But you, for television, play it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mulaney/if-i-was-at-the-comedy-cellar-at-midnight-you-yelled-at-the-back-of/) [John Mulaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mulaney/) > [Too many of the organizations I have observed resemble a farm in Kansas. They have lots of fences and silos as well as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-buckingham/too-many-of-the-organizations-i-have-observed-resemble-a-farm-in/) [Marcus Buckingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-buckingham/) > [To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you're in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-successful-keep-looking-tanned-live-in-an-elegant-building-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But the people cannot have wells, and so they take rain-water. Neither can they conveniently have cellars or graves, the town being built upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-the-people-cannot-have-wells-and-so-they-take-rain-water-neither/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Have they known scorn like you Five cellars down?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/have-they-known-scorn-like-you-five-cellars-down/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [The Torment turned his head to him, and frowned. "Who are you?" "I'm... sorry? It's me, it's Vaurien. Vaurien Scapegrace. I... built the cellar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/the-torment-turned-his-head-to-him-and-frowned-who-are-you-i-m-sorry/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [We shall soon be obliged to meet in cellars, or in darkened rooms with closed doors, and speak in whispers lest our next door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/we-shall-soon-be-obliged-to-meet-in-cellars-or-in-darkened-rooms-with/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The devil personifies not the nature that is around us but the nature that is within us- the infinitely ferocious and cunning prehuman creature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-devil-personifies-not-the-nature-that-is-around-us-but-the-nature/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Raziel’s sixty feet tall?” “Actually, he’s only fifty-nine feet tall, but he likes to exaggerate,” said Magnus. 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