Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
Reinhold Niebuhr (2010). "The Irony of American History", p.63, University of Chicago Press
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
"Serenity Prayer". Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, www.beliefnet.com. 1951.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Grant me the patience with changes that take time, appreciation of all that I have, tolerance of those with different struggles, and the strength to get up and try again, one day at a time.
Reinhold Niebuhr
There was a time when I had all the answers. My real growth began when I discovered that the questions to which I had the answers were not the important questions.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness foreword (1944)
Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.
Reinhold Niebuhr
It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Every experience proves that the real problem of our existence lies in the fact that we ought to love one another, but do not.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.
Reinhold Niebuhr
The stupidity of the average man will permit the oligarch, whether economic or political, to hide his real purposes from the scrutiny of his fellows and to withdraw his activities from effective control. Since it is impossible to count on enough moral goodwill among those who possess irresponsible power to sacrifice it for the good of the whole, it must be destroyed by coercive methods and these will always run the peril of introducing new forms of injustice in place of those abolished.
Reinhold Niebuhr (2013). "Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics", p.21, Westminster John Knox Press
Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Forgiveness is the final form of love.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Toleration of people who differ in convictions and habits requires a residual awareness of the complexity of truth and the possibility of opposing view having some light on one or the other facet of a many-sided truth.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.
Reinhold Niebuhr, (2013). "Discerning the Signs of the Times - Sermons for Today and Tomorrow", p.72, Read Books Ltd
The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Rationalism belongs to the cool observer. But because of the stupidity of the average person, they follow not reason, but faith. This naïve faith requires necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplifications, which are provided by the myth maker to keep the ordinary person on course.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges which they hold.
Reinhold Niebuhr (2013). "Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics", p.117, Westminster John Knox Press
If you equate God's judgment with your judgment, you have a wrong religion.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Source: www.hrc.utexas.edu
My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By their fruits shall ye know them." I wouldn't judge a man by the presuppositions of his life, but only by the fruits of his life. And the fruits - the relevant fruits - are, I'd say, a sense of charity, a sense of proportion, a sense of justice. And whether the man is an atheist or a Christian, I would judge him by his fruits, and I have therefore many agnostic friends.
Reinhold Niebuhr
"The Mike Wallace Interview". www.hrc.utexas.edu. April 27, 1958.
The chief source of man's inhumanity to man seems to be the tribal limits of his sense of obligation to other men.
Reinhold Niebuhr (2012). "Man's Nature and His Communities: Essays on the Dynamics and Enigmas of Man's Personal and Social Existence", p.84, Wipf and Stock Publishers
Life has no meaning except in terms of responsibility.
Reinhold Niebuhr (1974). "Justice and Mercy"
Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are unsure that we are doubly sure.
Reinhold Niebuhr
The cross symbolizes a cosmic as well as historic truth. Love conquers the world, but its victory is not an easy one.
Reinhold Niebuhr (2015). "Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic: A Library of America eBook Classic", p.91, Library of America
Love is the motive, but justice is the instrument.
Reinhold Niebuhr
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