To the end of history, social orders will probably destroy themselves in an effort to prove they are indestructible.
Reinhold NiebuhrNot only in America but in Germany, in France since the war, in Germany after the First World War, the Germany of Adenauer, these are the creative relationships of Catholicism to a free society that the average American doesn't fully appreciate.
Reinhold NiebuhrOriginal sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it.
Reinhold NiebuhrWhile 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.
Reinhold Niebuhr