Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'

Written by C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis 1898–1963 · Oxford and Cambridge literary scholar, novelist and Christian apologist
Verified in chapter 9 — but the popular version drops “only” and the italics that carry the point In copyright

It is Lewis, from chapter 9 of The Great Divorce, serialised in the Anglican newspaper The Guardian across 1944 and 1945 and published as a book in 1945. Wikiquote’s sourced section transcribes it inside its dialogue: asked “But what of the poor Ghosts who never get into the omnibus at all?”, the reply is “Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.” The popular version drops the word “only”, drops the second “in the end”, and — most damagingly — drops the italics on the second “Thy”. Without that emphasis the sentence reads as though God says the same thing back; with it, God is conceding, and the second group get exactly what they insisted on.

Last verified 27 Sep 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Verified quote & credit

“There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'” C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1945), chapter 9. Lewis’s sentence reads: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’" — with the second "Thy" in italics, which is the point. It is spoken in dialogue, answering a question about the Ghosts who never board the bus. Via Quotle.info

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by The C. S. Lewis estate and its publishers). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of C.S. Lewis — Irish-born British literary scholar, novelist and Christian apologist. Theme: "There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Work
The Great Divorce
First published
Serialised in The Guardian, an Anglican newspaper, across 1944–1945; in book form in 1945 by Geoffrey Bles
Location
Ch. 9 — spoken in dialogue, answering the narrator’s question about the Ghosts who never board the bus
Rights
In copyright — first published 1945

‘But what of the poor Ghosts who never get into the omnibus at all?’ — ‘Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.’

As transcribed in Wikiquote’s sourced section for The Great Divorce ↗, attributed there to chapter 9. Two things the excerpt restores: the sentence is a reply in a conversation, not Lewis pronouncing in his own voice; and the italics fall on the second “Thy”. The closing lines are Lewis quoting Matthew 7:7–8.

Wikiquote — The Great Divorce, sourced quotations by chapter

How we verified this

  • The sentence in full, as Wikiquote’s sourced section prints it: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” Three elements — “only”, the repeated “in the end”, and the italicised “Thy” — are missing from the version that circulates — compare the transcription ↗.
  • It is dialogue. Wikiquote prints it as an answer to the narrator’s question about the Ghosts who never get on the bus, which is why it begins “Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear.” It is a character speaking inside a novel, not Lewis pronouncing in a work of apologetics — which does not make it less his view, but is worth knowing before quoting it as doctrine. Through this stretch of the book the narrator’s guide is a character Lewis builds out of the Victorian writer George MacDonald, set up as his Virgil — Wikipedia on the book’s structure ↗.
  • The book. The Great Divorce ran as a serial in the Anglican paper The Guardian in 1944 and 1945 and appeared as a book in 1945. Its title answers Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ↗: Lewis’s argument is that heaven and hell do not marry, and that the divorce is chosen from the hell side — Wikipedia’s article ↗.
  • What could not be checked. The book is in copyright. The Internet Archive holds the 1946 Macmillan American edition, but the item is access-restricted and its text cannot be downloaded, so this page rests on Wikiquote’s sourced transcription rather than a page image read here — the catalogue record ↗.
In copyright

The Great Divorce was first published in 1945, well after the 1930 cut-off for the United States public domain, so it is in copyright. Quoting the sentence with attribution is ordinary fair use; reproducing the surrounding passage, selling it printed on something, or using it in advertising is not. Lewis died in 1963 and the work is administered by his estate together with its publishers.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Right author, three missing words

Nobody is falsely credited here. The damage is done by what the popular version leaves out — and one of the omissions turns the sentence into a tautology.

God says, “Thy will be done” wording drift

This is the whole sentence. Lewis italicises the second “Thy” so that the two halves are opposites, not an echo: the first group surrender their will, the second have theirs granted. Strip the emphasis and God appears to say the same words back, which is not a judgement but a repetition — the italics are in Wikiquote’s transcription ↗.

“only” wording drift

Lewis wrote “There are only two kinds of people in the end”. The word is doing work: he is closing off third options, which is the point of a book arguing that nobody ends up in hell by accident.

the second “in the end” wording drift

Lewis repeats it — “those to whom God says, in the end” — to mark that the concession comes last, after every refusal. The shortened version loses the sense of a long argument finally conceded.

Lewis speaking in his own voice character speaking, not the author

It is a line of dialogue in a novel, answering a question about the Ghosts who never board the bus, not a proposition from one of Lewis’s works of apologetics. That does not make it less his view — he clearly means it — but it is spoken by a character, in an argument — Wikipedia on the book’s premise ↗.

The honest summary: this is C.S. Lewis, chapter 9 of The Great Divorce (1945), quoted a little short. If you print it, print the italics — the full sentence is here ↗.

Context

Why it mattered

The Great Divorce is Lewis’s answer to a specific objection: that a good God would not permit hell. His reply is that hell is not a sentence handed down but a preference honoured. The book stages it as a bus trip — ghosts ride out from a grey, drizzling city to the foothills of heaven, are invited to stay, and almost all of them find a reason to go back.

The sentence people quote is the thesis of that argument in one line, which is why it has outlived the novel around it. It is also why the italics matter so much: Lewis is not saying God condemns the second group. He is saying God finally stops arguing with them.

Lewis italicised the second "Thy". Without it the sentence says nothing at all.

Read the full story

The title responds to William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which had proposed that the two are complementary. Lewis thought this was the comfortable modern error — that everything can be reconciled if you are generous enough about it — and wrote a book in which the reconciliation is offered on every page and declined every time.

The narrator’s guide through this stretch of the book is a character Lewis builds out of George MacDonald, the Victorian Scottish writer, cast in the role Virgil plays for Dante. The passage quoted here sits in chapter 9, where the guide does most of the explaining.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Mortality Freedom Truth

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

C. S. Lewis — sourced quotationsen.wikiquote.org

The sourced section for The Great Divorce, which transcribes the full chapter-9 dialogue, italics included.
The Great Divorceen.wikipedia.org

Publication history (serialised in The Guardian 1944–1945, book 1945), the premise, and George MacDonald’s role as the narrator’s guide.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hellen.wikipedia.org

Blake’s work, which Lewis’s title is answering — useful for seeing what argument the book is against.
The Great Divorce (1946 Macmillan edition)archive.org

The American edition as an access-restricted scan. In copyright, so the text is not downloadable.
C. S. Lewisen.wikipedia.org

Biography: born Belfast 1898, died Oxford 1963, Magdalen College Oxford then the Cambridge chair in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.

The author

About C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

1898–1963 · Irish-born British literary scholar, novelist and Christian apologist

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and taught English literature for nearly forty years — as a fellow and tutor at Magdalen College, Oxford from 1925, then in the Cambridge chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature from 1954 until his death in 1963. The Great Divorce belongs to his wartime run of imaginative theology, alongside The Screwtape Letters and the broadcast talks that became Mere Christianity: arguments about heaven, hell and choice, made in stories rather than syllogisms because he thought the stories were harder to argue with.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

How to cite this page

C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1945), ch. 9. First serialised in The Guardian (London) across 1944–1945. Wording as transcribed in Wikiquote’s sourced section, en.wikiquote.org ↗; the book is in copyright and the Internet Archive scan of the 1946 Macmillan American edition is access-restricted ↗, so no page image was read for this entry. Publication history per Wikipedia ↗.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'’?” Last verified 27 Sep 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-end-those-who-say-to/

Something wrong on this page?

Tell us what’s off. A link helps but isn’t required — “this is the wrong person” is a useful report on its own. Nothing here changes the page directly; it goes to our review queue and a human checks it.

Only used to tell you if we act on your report. We never sell or share it.

Copied