“We must therefore look with grave misgivings upon the psychology of the ‘crusade’ or on the notion that we can make the world over in our own image either by persuasion or by coercion.”

— Henry Steele Commager

Source: Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954), pp. 70-71

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We must therefore look with grave misgivings upon the psychology of the ‘crusade’ or on the notion that we can make the…" by Henry Steele Commager?

Henry Steele Commager 27

American historian 1902–1998

Related quotes

“The world is a mirror into which we look, and see our own image.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 31

“Ah, my friends, we must look out and around to see what God is like. It is when we persist in turning our eyes inward, and prying curiously over our own imperfections, that we learn to make God after our own image, and fancy that our own darkness and hardness of heart are the patterns of His light and love.”

Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) English clergyman, historian and novelist

Source: Attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 257.

“In our calling, we have to choose; we must make our fortune either in this world or in the next, there is no middle way.”

Stendhal book The Red and the Black

Dans notre état, il faut opter; il s'agit de faire fortune dans ce monde ou dans l'autre, il n'y a pas de milieu.
Vol. I, ch. VIII
Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) (1830)

“To be simple is to accept the essence of the message and not try to twist it or adapt it to our own ideas. To be simple we must desire to remain in the image of God. We must not be so complex that we make God into our image! Simplicity is dying to self, an emptying.”

Catherine Doherty (1896–1985) Religious order founder; Servant of God

"For This I Have Laid Down My Life", p. 12
Unfinished Pilgrimage (1995)

“I do deeply deplore, of the sake of the cause, the prevalent notion, that the clergy must be had, either by persuasion or by bribery. They will not need persuasion or bribery, if their hearts are with us; if they are not, we are better without them. It is idle to suppose that the kingdom of heaven cannot come on earth, without their cooperation.”

Sarah Grimké (1792–1873) American abolitionist

The “cause” was two-fold: abolition of slavery and establishment of women’s rights, especially suffrage. Some abolitionists and feminists thought it essential to win the support of clergymen.
Letter 15 (October 20, 1837).
Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman (1837)