"Ashes are good for carpets.." - CS Lewis

[Ethernut]

One of my favorite writers is CS Lewis, and old school wordsmith in the truest sense of the word wrapped in a sentience that transcends most of human kind. A 1%'er for certain.. One of his very little known quotes is one that's dear to me simply because of the elegant arrangement of the words and the reference to smoking. I'll share the full quote in a moment.

Apparently, he lived very simply and in near squalor. An obvious eccentric choosing not to spend the money he made from his books on comfort. He was giving somewhere in the 80%+ of the profits to charities before he died. At one point, he did have a housekeeper before his second marriage who begged him to allow her wash the drapes, floors and carpets. He was semi resistant but eventually allowed her to purchase a vacuum. He apparently didn't like the carpets cleaned. He was a prolific smoker and he'd ash wherever he was standing right on the floor. In a moment of wry quick witted resistance to floor cleaning he smiled and said to her in his British cockney, 

"Ashes are good for carpets, 

but only men believe it..."

 

-Ether

[westg]

Ha .  I am soooooo anti carpet ....to me carpet is like wearing the same clothes everyday and not washing them ....it is just gross .

[Ethernut]

@westg but so soft under foot.. ??

Which leads me to another CS Lewis quote.. "Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.."

You set that one up perfectly sir!

[MaxG]

Love the story; love the author.

 

- MG