All 23 Uses of

direct
in
The Screwtape Letters

In his anguish, the patient can, of course, be encouraged to revenge himself by some vindictive feelings directed towards the German leaders, and that is good so far as it goes.†
Chpt 6 *

directed = aimed or focused

But it is usually a sort of melodramatic or mythical hatred directed against imaginary scapegoats.†
Chpt 6

Thus we make it fashionable to expose the dangers of enthusiasm at the very moment when they are all really becoming worldly and lukewarm; a century later, when we are really making them all Byronic and drunk with emotion, the fashionable outcry is directed against the dangers of the mere "understanding".†
Chpt 25

Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones.†
Chpt 3

The humans do not start from that direct perception of Him which we, unhappily, cannot avoid.†
Chpt 4

For if he ever comes to make the distinction, if ever he consciously directs his prayers "Not to what I think thou art but to what thou knowest thyself to be", our situation is, for the moment, desperate.†
Chpt 4

For real resignation, at the same moment, to a dozen different and hypothetical fates, is almost impossible, and the Enemy does not greatly assist those who are trying to attain it: resignation to present and actual suffering, even where that suffering consists of fear, is far easier and is usually helped by this direct action.†
Chpt 6

The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know.†
Chpt 6

When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all he pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians.†
Chpt 7 *

This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change.†
Chpt 8

You have only got to keep him out of the way of experienced Christians (an easy task now-a-days), to direct his attention to the appropriate passages in scripture, and then to set him to work on the desperate design of recovering his old feelings by sheer willpower, and the game is ours.†
Chpt 9

Another possibility is that of direct attack on his faith.†
Chpt 9

No doubt he must very soon realise that his own faith is in direct opposition to the assumptions on which all the conversation of his new friends is based.†
Chpt 10

Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.†
Chpt 11

It is the Enemy's most barbarous weapon, and generally appears when He is directly present to the patient under certain modes not yet fully classified.†
Chpt 13 *

Like most of the other things which humans are excited about, such as health and sickness, age and youth, or war and peace, it is, from the point of view of the spiritual life, mainly raw material, Your affectionate uncle SCREWTAPE XX MY DEAR WORMWOOD, I note with great displeasure that the Enemy has, for the time being, put a forcible end to your direct attacks on the patient's chastity.†
Chpt 20

At one time we have directed it to the statuesque and aristocratic type of beauty, mixing men's vanity with their desires and encouraging the race to breed chiefly from the most arrogant and prodigal women.†
Chpt 20

As a result we are more and more directing the desires of men to something which does not exist-making the rÃ'le of the eye in sexuality more and more important and at the same time making its demands more and more impossible.†
Chpt 20

You will have failed as regards fornication and solitary vice; but there are other, and more indirect, methods of using a man's sexuality to his undoing.†
Chpt 20

indirect = not straightforward

standard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indirect means not and reverses the meaning of direct. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.

In the first place they all tend to direct men's devotion to something which does not exist, for each "historical Jesus" is unhistorical.†
Chpt 23

We direct the fashionable outcry of each generation against those vices of which it is least in danger and fix its approval on the virtue nearest to that vice which we are trying to make endemic.†
Chpt 25

On the seemingly pious ground that "praise and communion with God is the true prayer", humans can often be lured into direct disobedience to the Enemy who (in His usual flat, commonplace, uninteresting way) has definitely told them to pray for their daily bread and the recovery of their sick.†
Chpt 27

If we promoted justice and charity among men, we should be playing directly into the Enemy's hands; but if we guide them to the opposite behaviour, this sooner or later produces (for He permits it to produce) a war or a revolution, and the undisguisable issue of cowardice or courage awakes thousands of men from moral stupor.†
Chpt 29

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Best Example Sentences
From Other Sources
Grouped by 3 Meanings

Definitions:

(1) (direct as in: directly above; or buy direct)
without anything in between -- whether in time, space, or involvement
(2) (direct as in: gave a direct answer)
straightforward -- often clear, open, or blunt in speech or behavior
(3) (direct as in: direct a question; or direct a film)
to guide, aim, or manage -- such as actions, attention, speech, a project or company
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Direct can take on many specialized meanings not included in this dictionary.
As an adjective or adverb, direct usually means there is a clear or straight connection with nothing in the way. It can also mean easy to understand, without confusion. For example:
- Direct action – taking quick and clear steps to make something happen
- Direct descendant – someone who comes straight from an ancestor, like a grandchild
- Direct line (in genealogy) – a family connection that goes straight from one generation to the next
- Direct deposit – money that is sent straight into a bank account
- Direct object – in a sentence, the person or thing that receives the action of the verb
- Direct kick – in sports, a kick where the ball can go straight into the goal without touching another player
- Direct cost – a cost that comes straight from making a product or providing a service
- Direct investment – putting money directly into a company or project
- Direct elections – when people vote for leaders without going through an extra step
- Direct current (DC) – a type of electric flow that moves in only one direction
As a verb, most all of the senses of direct involve giving orders or aiming.

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direct in The Screwtape Letters

direct
in
The Screwtape Letters