“Christianity does not, repeat, not, look forward to a gradual betterment of human behaviour and society or to the progressive spread of peace and justice upon earth. Still less does Christianity purport to offer a scheme or general outline for bringing that about. Quite the reverse, it uniformly teaches, as if to emphasize the point for good measure, that things will get worse rather than better before we are through.”
Wrestling with the Angel (1977), p. 61
1970s
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Enoch Powell 155
British politician 1912–1998Related quotes

“Things get worse before they get better.”

Unknown source, often attributed to The Woman Rebel.
Misattributed

Understanding Islam, "Morals and Ethics" http://vod.dmi.ae/media/96716/Ep_03_Morals_and_Ethics Dubai Media

On the subject progress. Source: Interview with French writer Roger Errera, 1974. New York Review of Books. As quoted by Scroll Staff (December 04, 2017): Ideas in literature: Ten things Hannah Arendt said that are eerily relevant in today’s political times https://web.archive.org/web/20191001213756/https://scroll.in/article/856549/ten-things-hannah-arendt-said-that-are-eerily-relevant-in-todays-political-times. In: Scroll.in. Archived from the original https://scroll.in/article/856549/ten-things-hannah-arendt-said-that-are-eerily-relevant-in-todays-political-times on October 1, 2019.

Announcing his candidature for the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, as quoted in " Anbumani projects himself as CM candidates, seeks vote for change http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Anbumani-projects-himself-as-CM-candidates-seeks-vote-for-change/articleshow/48047305.cms", The Times of India (13 July 2015)

Colonel Hector McCandless, on the Tippo Sultan, p. 300
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)