Mere Christianity

…”If you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble—delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit farther with humility myself: if I had, I could possibly tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off—getting rid of the false self, with all its ‘look at me’ and ‘aren’t I a good boy?’ and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert…

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”

-CS Lewis

Mere Christianity

Chapter: The Great Sin

Page 99

If you haven't read this book--read it! It'll change the way you think about yourself, and Christianity in general.