If we should perish, the ruthlessness of the foe would be only the secondary cause of the disaster. The primary cause would be that the strength of a giant nation was directed by eyes too blind to see all the hazards of the struggle; and the blindness would be induced not by some accident of nature or history but by hatred and vainglory.
Niebuhr[/b:ea2238bd45]
- from [i:ea2238bd45]The Irony of American History[/i:ea2238bd45], published in 1952
laurencer
Sep 17 2005
06:40 pm
If we should perish, the ruthlessness of the foe would be only the secondary cause of the disaster. The primary cause would be that the strength of a giant nation was directed by eyes too blind to see all the hazards of the struggle; and the blindness would be induced not by some accident of nature or history but by hatred and vainglory.
Niebuhr[/b:ea2238bd45]- from [i:ea2238bd45]The Irony of American History[/i:ea2238bd45], published in 1952