It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual condition will make us consent to it.

Such impulses are certainly very strong perhaps even stronger than most of us know. Academic life
Lionel Trilling was born in Queens New York City the son of Fannie (née Cohen) who was from London and David Trilling a tailor from Bialystok in Poland. “New York Intellectuals” Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.

S. Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4 1905 – November 5 1975) was an American literary critic author and teacher. Unlike many of his contemporaries he has been a subject of continued interest.