Not of this world

What is divine in Man is elusive and impalpable, and he is easily tempted to embody it in a concrete form -- a church, a country, a social system, a leader -- so that he may realize it with less effort and serve it with more profit. Yet, as even Lincoln proved, the attempt to externalize the kingdom of heaven in a temporal shape must end in disaster. It cannot be created by charters and constitutions nor established by arms. Those who set out for it alone will reach it together, and those who seek it in company will perish by themselves. -- Hugh Kingsmill (as quoted in Conversion: The Spiritual Journey of a Twentieth-Century Pilgrim by Malcolm Muggeridge)