From the perspective of society the highest moral ideal is justice. From the perspective of the individual the highest ideal is unselfishness. Society must strive for justice even if it is forced to use means, such as self-assertion, resistance, coercion and perhaps resentment, which cannot gain the moral sanction of the most sensitive moral spirit.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) American theologian and clergyman

“Pacifism Against the Wall,” The American Scholar (Spring 1936)

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