“the higher reconciliation of the moral and the intellectual”

Jacques Maritain:

Morality as such aims only at the good of the human being, the supreme interest of the Subject who acts; intellectuality as such aims only at the Object—what it is, if it is a question of knowing it, what it ought to be, if it is a question of making it. What a temptation for poor human nature to be faithful to one only at the expense of the other! It is true, we know, haec oportebat facere, et illa non omittere; but how are the children of Adam to keep the balance? …

Christ Crucified draws to Him all that is in man; all things are reconciled, but at the height of His heart.

Here is a religion whose moral exigencies are more elevated than those of any other, since the heroism of sanctity can alone fully satisfy them, and which at the same time loves and protects the intelligence more than any other. I say that this is a sign of the divinity of this religion. A superhuman virtue is necessary to assure among men the free play of art and science under the rule of the divine law and the primacy of Charity, and thus to achieve the higher reconciliation of the moral and the intellectual.