One of the most pathetic aspects of human history is that every civilization expresses itself most pretentiously, compounds its partial and universal values most convincingly, and claims immortality for its finite existence at the very moment when the decay which leads to death has already begun.
Reinhold NiebuhrGoodness, armed with power, is corrupted; and pure love without power is destroyed.
Reinhold NiebuhrOur dreams of a pure virtue are dissolved in a situation in which it is possible to exercise the virtue of responsibility toward a community of nations only by courting the prospective guilt of the atomic bomb.
Reinhold NiebuhrThere must be equality of all men before God and in a democratic society. Now that's one of the great achievements.
Reinhold NiebuhrWe take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe that a nation is capable of perfect disinterestedness in its exercise, nor become complacent about a particular degree of interest and passion which corrupt the justice by which the exercise of power is legitimatized.
Reinhold Niebuhr