---
title: "1 Thou Knowest Quotes By Dietrich Bonhoeffer"
description: "1 Thou Knowest quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Plus more from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and more Thou Knowest sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_depression_who-am-i-they-often-tell-me-i-would-step_355120.jpg"
---

> [“Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell's confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warden freely and friendly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/who-am-i-they-often-tell-me-i-would-step-from-my-cell-s-confinement/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_depression_who-am-i-they-often-tell-me-i-would-step_355120.jpg)

## More by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

> [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [Why do Christians sing when they are together? The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/why-do-christians-sing-when-they-are-together-the-reason-is-quite/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/only-he-who-believes-is-obedient-and-only-he-who-is-obedient-believes/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/who-can-really-be-faithful-in-great-things-if-he-has-not-learned-to/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“The church can only defend its own space by fighting, not for space, but for the salvation of the world. Otherwise the church becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-church-can-only-defend-its-own-space-by-fighting-not-for-space/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [There remains an experience of incomparable value . . . to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-remains-an-experience-of-incomparable-value-to-see-the-great/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/to-endure-the-cross-is-not-a-tragedy-it-is-the-suffering-which-is-the/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“There is only one church, the church of faith ruled by the word of Jesus Christ alone. This is the true catholic church that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-is-only-one-church-the-church-of-faith-ruled-by-the-word-of/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“As Christians, we needn’t be at all ashamed of some impatience, longing, opposition to what is unnatural, and our full share of desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/as-christians-we-needn-t-be-at-all-ashamed-of-some-impatience-longing/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/those-who-love-their-dream-of-a-christian-community-more-than-the/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“From now on there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/from-now-on-there-can-be-no-more-wars-of-faith-the-only-way-to/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“The scriptures do not present us with a series of Christian types to be imitated according to choice; they preach to us in every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-scriptures-do-not-present-us-with-a-series-of-christian-types-to/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/we-are-not-to-simply-bandage-the-wounds-of-victims-beneath-the-wheels/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

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                        "text": "“Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell's confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warden freely and friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command. Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win. Am I then really all that which other men tell of, or am I only what I know of myself, restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness, trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation, tossing in expectation of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, faint and ready to say farewell to it all. Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today, and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!”",
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