We may look into a church, almost any church, and discover someone who, though he is offered a gospel of love, must subtly convert it into a gospel of hate before he can receive it. The gospel of love — with its emphasis upon brotherhood, equality before God, the dignity of every human being, and man’s social responsibility toward man — does not satisfy the lack that he urgently feels. That calls for something altogether different, for an assurance that he is superior, that he is right where others are wrong — a kind of cosmic teacher’s pet.

Bonaro W. Overstreet (1902-1985) American poet, psychologist

(Attributed)