Quotes from Reinhold Niebuhr

What we think of man and God, of sin and salvation, is partly prompted by the comparative comforts or discomforts in which we live. It is a very sobering reflection on the lack of transcendence of the human spirit over the flux of historical change.

Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Forgiveness is the final form of love.

Change what cannot be accepted and accept what cannot be changed.

Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.

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.

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

Rationality belongs to the cool observer, but because of the stupidity of the average man, he follows not reason, but faith, and the naive faith requires necessary illusion and emotionally potent oversimplifications which are provided by the myth-maker to keep ordinary person on course.

comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable

Humour is, in fact, a prelude to faith; and laughter is the beginning of prayer … Laughter is swallowed up in prayer and humour is fulfilled by faith.

The final wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it.

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.