Daniel Berrigan says: “Every step forward also digs the depths to which one can likewise go.” No longer shall we feel that virtues are to be gained merely by leaving behind vices; the distance up the ladder ethically is not to be defined in terms of what we have left behind. Otherwise goodness is no longer good but self-righteous pride in one’s own character. Evil also, if it is not balanced by capacities for good, becomes insipid, banal, gutless, and apathetic. Actually we become more sensitive to both good and evil each day; and this dialectic is essential for our creativity.
