Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

13 quotes from 11 authors

Reinhold Niebuhr’s writings still echo in modern ethics, and the twelve quotes from eleven thinkers distill his core ideas. The selection touches on humility, justice, and the tension between idealism and reality, offering a compact guide for anyone wrestling with moral complexity.

Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

“American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said, “All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.”

Liz Wiseman

Image

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And wisdom…

Demi Lovato

Image

“I read Reinhold Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society, where Niebuhr talked about how the baser self has to deceive the better…

Barry Eisler

Image

Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are…

Martin Luther King, Jr

Image

[Reinhold] Niebuhr endorsed G.K.Chesterton’s observation that tolerance is the attitude of those who do not believe in anything.

Christopher Lasch

Image

“The new king of the Protestant Establishment, featured on the cover of Time, was Reinhold Niebuhr, a New Yorker and bona-fide intellectual…

Kurt Andersen

Image

“Lamentably, it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and…

Martin Luther King Jr

Image

“Given their changed context it was also a challenge, one imagines, to keep their biblical exegesis sound and their theological thinking straight.…

Alan Kreider

Image

“The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr observed that the Engel decision "practically suppresses all religion, especially in the public schools." Engel and other cases…

James T. Patterson