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Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)

Book by Reinhold Niebuhr · 4 quotes · Impulse, Humans, Grants

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Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263) Quotes

“While it is possible for intelligence to increase the range of benevolent impulse, and thus prompt a human being to consider the needs and rights of other than those to whom he is bound by organic and physical relationship, there are definite limits in the capacity of ordinary mortals which makes it impossible for them to grant to others what they claim for themselves.”

“Our dreams of bringing the whole of human history under the control of the human will are ironically refuted by the fact that no group of idealists can easily move the pattern of history toward the desired goal of peace and justice. The recalcitrant forces in the historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning.”