We have had to learn that history is neither a God nor a redeemer. Reinhold Niebuhr More Quotes by Reinhold Niebuhr More Quotes From Reinhold Niebuhr The recalcitrant forces in the historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning. Reinhold Niebuhr persistencehistoricaldrama For democracy is a method of finding proximate solutions for insoluble problems. Reinhold Niebuhr methoddemocracyproblem Despotism, which we regard with abhorrence, is rather too plausible in decaying feudal, agrarian, pastoral societies. That's why we must expect to have many a defeat before we'll have an ultimate victory in this contest with Communism. Reinhold Niebuhr defeatvictorycommunism Freedom is necessary for two reasons. It's necessary for the individual, because the individual, no matter how good the society is, every individual has hopes, fears, ambitions, creative urges, that transcend the purposes of his society. Therefore we have a long history of freedom, where people try to extricate themselves from tyranny for the sake of art, for the sake of science, for the sake of religion, for the sake of the conscience of the individual - this freedom is necessary for the individual. Reinhold Niebuhr ambitiontwoart One of the fundamental points about religious humility is you say you don't know about the ultimate judgment. It's beyond your judgment. And if you equate God's judgment with your judgment, you have a wrong religion. Reinhold Niebuhr humilityreligiousfundamentals The more complex the world situation becomes, the more scientific and rational analysis you have to have, the less you can do with simple good will and sentiment. Reinhold Niebuhr analysissimpleworld To the end of history, social orders will probably destroy themselves in an effort to prove they are indestructible. Reinhold Niebuhr effortsocialorder I cannot worship the abstractions of virtue: she only charms me when she addresses herself to my heart, speaks through the love from which she springs. Reinhold Niebuhr addressesheartspring I thank heaven I have often had it in my power to give help and relief, and this is still my greatest pleasure. If I could choose my sphere of action now, it would be that of the most simple and direct efforts of this kind. Reinhold Niebuhr effortsimplegiving To be religious is not to feel, but to be. Reinhold Niebuhr religiousfeels Marxism was the social creed and the social cry of those classes who knew by their miseries that the creed of the liberal optimists was s snare and a delusion... Liberalism and Marxism share a common illusion of the "children of light." Neither understands property as a form of power which can be used in either its individual or its social form as an instrument of particular interest against the general interest. Reinhold Niebuhr lightwisdomchildren Our dreams of a pure virtue are dissolved in a situation in which it is possible to exercise the virtue of responsibility toward a community of nations only by courting the prospective guilt of the atomic bomb. Reinhold Niebuhr responsibilitydreamexercise Faith is the final triumph over incongruity, the final assertion of the meaningfulness of existence. Reinhold Niebuhr triumphexistencefinals There is no cure for the pride of a virtuous nation but pure religion. Reinhold Niebuhr curespridereligion What is funny about us is precisely that we take ourselves too seriously. Reinhold Niebuhr laughterjoyhappiness Better not read books in which you make acquaintance of the devil. Reinhold Niebuhr acquaintancedevilbook Original sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it. Reinhold Niebuhr sinperfectionmen A genuine faith resolves the mystery of life by the mystery of God. Reinhold Niebuhr genuinemysteriousmystery The society in which each man lives is at once the basis for, and the nemesis of, that fulness of life which each man seeks. Reinhold Niebuhr baseslife-ismen We have previously suggested that philanthropy combines genuine pity with the display of power and that the latter element explains why the powerful are more inclined to be generous than to grant social justice. Reinhold Niebuhr elementspowerfuljustice
