Quotes by Reinhold Niebuhr

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.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.

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

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

Original sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.