The impulse to reflect about the humanity of man comes from the conscience as well as from intellectual curiosity. It is motivated by anxiety, and not simply by a desire to add to the sum of information about a member of the class of mammals.

A J Heschel, Who is Man ? Stanford U Press, p. 2

Our conscience dwells secure, we cast the blame on inevitable Fate. The rhetoric of indifference is highly effective. It is extremely easy to adjust to other people's suffering graciously.

A J Heschel. Jews in the Soviet Union, in The Insecurity of Freedom, FS&G, p 266