I'm trying to write an op/ed piece for the local paper and I want to use that quote (I may be getting it slightly wrong) - something about, "Cruelty is a failure of imagination."

Does anyone know the exact quote, and who said it? I've googled cruelty + imagination + quote and got a quote site, but though it had good stuff on "imagination" it had nothing on "cruelty" - hence didn't have the quote I seek. And I started with my Oxford UP Dic of Quotes - no luck there either.

Help help! Please Help!

Edit: Um....Was this the right place to post this? Not sure....(mumble mumble)....Perhaps I'll post it in Misc. as well....?? Hm....

Here's one I found, that's somewhat similar:

"Cruelty is, perhaps, the worst kid of sin. Intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty."
ATTRIBUTION:GK Chesterton...

Go to http://www.bartleby.com

That's where I found this. It has four (count 'em) searchable quotation sources plus a lot of wonderful references, including my favorite dictionary.

tanks, Anna - off I go....

(one I found in my previous search, that I rather like: You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus. - Mark Twain)

Looks like tsuwm found your quote, mg. (Great way to get attention! Post the same thing in two fora! ) You'll be pleased to know it's attributed to a fellow Canadian and brilliant author.

(Great way to get attention! Post the same thing in two fora!)

actually, cross-posting is frowned upon in most forums. it causes people to have to decide where to post the answer. I have appreciated the lack of it here, let's not start now.

Indeed, eta, that's what I was getting at (maybe I should've put a after my parenthetical comment instead of a -- but *never a LOL!!)

ah yes, that big smiley obscured the sarcasm.

yes, I thought cross-posting would be a bad idear....but I was DESPERATE, DESPERATE I TELL YOU! Ah well. Wound up going with "a wise person once said" and not attributing. Sigh.

Edit, a moment later: I would, of course, still like to find out the exact quote and who said it....Another reason cross-posting is a bad idear: haven't checked other place I posted this. Maybe the answer is already there....! Okay, I won't do it again.