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The Sword’s Unseen Polish
C.S. Lewis on the Brilliance of Being, Not Seeming
Writer and scholar C.S. Lewis, in a striking metaphor from Surprised by Joy, observed,
“The sword glitters not because the swordsman set out to make it glitter but because he is fighting for his life and therefore moving it very quickly”.
This single image cuts to the heart of a timeless truth: genuine brilliance is an unintended byproduct of authentic, purposeful action, not the result of a self-conscious quest for shine.
Lewis’s swordsman isn’t concerned with aesthetics; his focus is existential — fighting for his life. This urgency strips away pretense. The resulting glitter is an honest signal of his intense engagement and the deadly seriousness of his purpose. It’s a brilliance born of necessity, not affectation. This insight challenges our modern preoccupation with appearances, urging a deeper look at the origins of true excellence.
This theme of authenticity over appearance echoes throughout Lewis’s work. In Mere Christianity, he suggests the
“real, new self… will come when you are looking for Him,”
not when you are looking for it. Similarly, in “Beyond Personality,” he argues that true personal development arises from internal transformation, not from curating an external image. Just as a…
