Quotes by Reinhold Niebuhr

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.

Mans capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but mans inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

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.

Humor is a prelude to faith, and laughter is the beginning of prayer.

It is my strong conviction that a realist conception of human nature should be made a servant of an ethic of progressive justice and should not be made into a bastion of conservatism, particularly a conservatism which defends unjust privileges.

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.

O God give us serenity to accept what cannot be changed courage to change what should be changed and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Im not afraid of too many things and I got that invincible kind of attitude from my father.

Faith is the final triumph over incongruity the final assertion of the meaningfulness of existence.

Mans capacity for evil makes democracy necessary and mans capacity for good makes democracy possible.

The mastery of nature is vainly believed to be an adequate substitute for self-mastery.

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

If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else.

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime therefore we must be saved by hope.

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.

The mastery of nature is vainly believed to be an adequate substitute for self mastery.

Our age knows nothing but reaction, and leaps from one extreme to another.

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.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history therefore we must be saved by faith.

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.