bauldoff:In the seed of the city of the just, a malignant seed is hidden, in its turn: the certainty

bauldoff:

In the seed of the city of the just, a malignant seed is hidden, in its turn: the certainty and pride of being in the right—and of being more just than many others who call themselves more just than the just. This seed ferments in bitterness, rivalry, resentment; and the natural desire of revenge on the unjust is coloured by a yearning to be in their place and to act as they do. Another unjust city, though different from the first, is digging out its space within the double sheath of the unjust and just

FromItalo Calvino’sInvisible Cities(Chapter 9: Hidden Cities 5).

The painting, Spiral Transit, by Remedios Varo.