Thomas a Kempis, Political Philosopher

I've been reading The Imitation of Christ for my audioblog, as I mentioned below. This little quote caught my eye. It seems to explain perfectly the state of politics in America, in a perfectly bipartisan way.

If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of ourselves.