Reinhold Niebuhr

strength change courage qisdom

“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.”

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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“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.”

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

serenity change courage wisdom living enjoy

“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. ”

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

change accept

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

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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“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 (1892-1971)

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“Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems.”

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

mastery nature substitute self mastery

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

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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"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 (1892-1971)

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"It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth."

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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"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 (1892-1971)

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"Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems."

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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"Cheese, wine, and a friend must be old to be good."

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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"Human Beings are just good enough to make democracy possible...just bad enough to make it neccessary."

— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)