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Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

Browse 3 quotes about Reinhold Niebuhr.

Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

“God's will is often not done. We despoil rivers and lakes. We pollute land and air. We drive species into extinction. Given time we can do worse - or we can, by God's grace, do better. The late Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 - 1971), who was a wiser theologian than Senator Inhofe, urged us to pray for "the wisdom to distinguish between those things that can and those things that cannot be changed and for the courage to change those things that should be changed". Certainly the distinction between those things that can and those things that cannot be changed is an important part of the understanding scientists seek. What we all need is the courage to change those things that should be changed.”

“My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but he resisted with love instead of hate. True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power, as [Reinhold] Niebuhr contends. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflicter of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart.”