Reinhold Niebuhr

Famous quotes by Reinhold Niebuhr:

"Evil is not to be traced back to the individual but to the collective behavior of humanity."

"The Christian doctrine of sin in its classical form offends both rationalists and moralists by maintaining the seemingly absurd position that man sins inevitably and by a fateful necessity but that he is nevertheless to be held responsible for actions which are prompted by an ineluctable [inescapable] fate."

"The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism"

"There are historic situations in which refusal to defend the inheritance of a civilization, however imperfect, against tyranny and aggression may result in consequences even worse than war"

"Family life is too intimate to be preserved by the spirit of justice. It can be sustained by a spirit of love which goes beyond justice."

"Forgiveness is the final form of love."

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that can be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other"

"Goodness, armed with power, is corrupted; and pure love without power is destroyed"

"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful 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 are saved by love."

"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."

"Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love."

"There is no cure for the pride of a virtuous nation but pure religion."

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

"If we can find God only as he is revealed in nature we have no moral God."

"Original sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it."

"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."

"Democracies are indeed slow to make war, but once embarked upon a martial venture are equally slow to make peace and reluctant to make a tolerable, rather than a vindictive, peace."

"Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems."

"The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world."