Mere nostalgia for the Good as "the root of despair"

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"It is the desire for Good that evil little by little destroys in us, but it is prevented from destroying with it the nostalgia for that Good of which we are no longer capable.  On the contrary it nourishes it and cultivates it, for it is already the root of despair—of that despair which alone is capable of completing our destruction by snatching us from God."

     Georges Bernanos, "Brother Martin," trans. Erwin W. Geissman, Cross currents 2, no. 4 (Summer 1952):  7 (1-9).  All of this appeared originally in Esprit 19, no. 10 =no. 183 (Octobre 1951):  (433-435).