Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without. William Sloane Coffin More Quotes by William Sloane Coffin More Quotes From William Sloane Coffin There are three kinds of patriots, two bad, one good. The bad ones are the uncritical lovers and the loveless critics. Good patriots carry on a lover's quarrel with their country, a reflection of God's lover's quarrel with all the world. William Sloane Coffin reflection two country In our time all it takes for evil to flourish is for a few good men to be a little wrong and have a great deal of power, and for the vast majority of their fellow citizens to remain indifferent. William Sloane Coffin good-man evil men The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love. William Sloane Coffin truth love life Patriotism at the expense of another nation is as wicked as racism at the expense of another race. . . Let us resolve to be patriots always, nationalists never. Let us love our country, but pledge allegiance to the earth and to the flora and fauna and human life that it supports - one planet indivisible, with clean air,... soil and water; with liberty, justice and peace for all. William Sloane Coffin love life country Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. If your heart's full of hope, you can be persistent when you can't be optimistic. You can keep the faith despite the evidence, knowing that only in so doing has the evidence any chance of changing. So while I'm not optimistic, I'm always very hopeful. William Sloane Coffin optimistic independent heart Of God's love we can say two things: it is poured out universally for everyone from the Pope to the loneliest wino on the planet; and secondly, God's love doesn't seek value, it creates value. It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value. Our value is a gift, not an achievement. William Sloane Coffin loneliness god love I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings. William Sloane Coffin leap wings firsts The cause of violence is not ignorance. It is self-interest. Only reverance can restrain violence - reverance for human life and the environment. William Sloane Coffin violence ignorance self Love measures our stature: the more we love, the bigger we are. There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself. William Sloane Coffin greatest-love inspirational-love men To show compassion for an individual without showing concern for the structures of society that make him an object of compassion is to be sentimental rather than loving. William Sloane Coffin sentimental individual compassion Christians have to listen to the world as well as to the Word - to science, to history, to what reason and our own experience tell us. We do not honor the higher truth we find in Christ by ignoring truths found elsewhere. William Sloane Coffin honor christian world It is one thing to say with the prophet Amos, "Let justice roll down like mighty waters," and quite another to work out the irrigation system. William Sloane Coffin work-out justice water There is nothing anti-intellectual in the leap of faith, for faith is not believing without proof but trusting without reservation. William Sloane Coffin leap-of-faith intellectual believe If your heart is full of fear, you won't seek truth; you'll seek security. If a heart is full of love, it will have a limbering effect on the mind. William Sloane Coffin effects mind heart It is terribly important to realize that the leap of faith is not so much a leap of thought as of action. For while in many matters it is first we must see then we will act; in matters of faith it is first we must do then we will know, first we will be and then we will see. One must, in short, dare to act wholeheartedly without absolute certainty. William Sloane Coffin leap-of-faith important matter Jesus is both a mirror to our humanity and a window to divinity, a window revealing as much of God as is given mortal eyes to see. When Christians see Christ empowering the weak, scorning the powerful, healing the wounded, and judging their tormentors, we are seeing transparently the power of God at work. William Sloane Coffin powerful christian jesus The temptation to moralize is strong; it is emotionally satisfying to have enemies rather than problems, to seek out culprits rather than the flaws in the system. William Sloane Coffin strong temptation enemy Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible. William Sloane Coffin hopeful passion hope The one true freedom in life is to come to terms with death, and as early as possible, for death is an event that embraces all our lives. And the only way to have a good death is to lead a good life. The more we do God's will, the less unfinished business we leave behind when we die. William Sloane Coffin unfinished-business good-life events It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value. Our value is a gift, not an achievement. William Sloane Coffin values achievement
