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Russell, George William, 1867-1935

"Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity"

We should not hope that man will ever be a less powerful
being. To hope that would be to wish for his degradation. We should
wish him to become ever more and more powerful by understanding himself,
and by the unity of the spiritual faculties and the elemental energies
in him into one harmonious whole. At present he is feeble because he
is, to use the scriptural illustration, a house divided against itself.
Our feebleness is due to the conflict of powers in us and our conflict
with each other. Get the two mightiest bulls in a herd, put them
opposing each other in a narrow passage, and they, being of equal
strength, will reduce each other to feebleness. Neither will make
headway. Let them unite together in their charge, and what will oppose
them? Men at conflict in their own hearts, opposing each other in the
world, reduce themselves and each other to wretchedness. The race which
could eliminate the factors which promote internal conflict in society
and could organize human energies in harmony, would be powerful beyond
our wildest dreams. Every now and then in world-history we come across
instances of what organized humanity could accomplish.


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