"There are certain types of people who are political out of a kind of religious reason [...] I think it's fairly common among socialists: They are, in fact, God-seekers, looking for the kingdom of God on earth. A lot of religious reformers have been like that, too. It's the same psychological set, trying to abolish the present in favor of some better future — always taking it for granted that there is a better future. If you don't believe in heaven, then you believe in socialism. When I was in my real Communist phase, I and the people around me really believed — but, of course, this makes us certifiable — that something like 10 years after World War II, the world would be Communist and perfect."
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Sources
Doris Lessing, as quoted in "Doris Lessing on Feminism, Communism and Space Fiction" (25 July 1982), Lesley Hazelton, New York Times Book Review
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Socialism
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Socialism
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