--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God grant me the serenity to accept the…" description: "\"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_accept_god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the_177653.png" --- # God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot… ![“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would…” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_accept_god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the_177653.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_accept_god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the_177653.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_accept_god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the_177653.png) > “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.” [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The prayer seeks serenity to accept the unchangeable, courage to act on the changeable, and wisdom to discern between them, promoting mindful living and trust in divine order. **In simple terms:** Ask for peace, bravery, and insight to know what can be changed. Key Takeaway Cultivate acceptance, courage, and discernment daily. Themes spirituality acceptance courage wisdom trust mindfulness Mood hopeful calm Type prayerful inspirational When to use this quote - stressful situations - personal growth - decision making - spiritual practice Key Concepts Christian theology psychology of coping ethical living Questions to Reflect On - What can you accept today? - How do you know when to act? A Different Perspective May be too religious for secular audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amen/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Courage to change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage-to-change/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Living one day at a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-one-day-at-a-time/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [One day at a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-day-at-a-time/) [Pathways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathways/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Serenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serenity/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [This life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-life/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wisdom to know the difference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom-to-know-the-difference/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-i-cannot-change-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [“God, grant me the serenity to, accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serenity-prayer/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-i-cannot-change-2/) Serenity Prayer > [Yesterdays gone, Tomorrow may never come for many of us, we have Today. 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The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-i-can-not-change-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things that we can not change, the courage to change the things that we can and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-that-we-can-not-change/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) ## More by Reinhold Niebuhr > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The essence of man is his freedom. 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It's necessary for the individual, because the individual, no matter how good the society is, every individual has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/freedom-is-necessary-for-two-reasons-it-s-necessary-for-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The pretensions of final truth are always partlyan effort to obscure a darkly felt consciousness of the limits of human knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-pretensions-of-final-truth-are-always-partlyan-effort-to-obscure/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [All social cooperation on a larger scale than the most intimate social group requires a measure of coercion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/all-social-cooperation-on-a-larger-scale-than-the-most-intimate/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Man is always worse than most people suspect, but also generally better than most people dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/man-is-always-worse-than-most-people-suspect-but-also-generally/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [When a church reaches up beyond its group and tries to enforce its standards upon a society that doesn't accept these standards, and perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/when-a-church-reaches-up-beyond-its-group-and-tries-to-enforce-its/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [...(I)ndividual selfhood is expressed in the self's capacity for self-transcendence and not in its rational capacity for conceptual and analytic procedures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/i-ndividual-selfhood-is-expressed-in-the-self-s-capacity-for-self/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-whole-art-of-politics-consists-in-directing-rationally-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/religion-is-so-frequently-a-source-of-confusion-in-political-life-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Self-righteousness is the inevitable fruit of simple moral judgments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/self-righteousness-is-the-inevitable-fruit-of-simple-moral-judgments/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) [Explore all 200 Reinhold Niebuhr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) ## More Accept quotes > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. 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But I’m gonna pay my way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsty-eagar/see-i-know-what-they-think-about-me-that-i-m-some-project-and-yeah-i/) [Kirsty Eagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsty-eagar/) > [If you're disabled or different from what general society deems normal, it's fine. There will always be people who won't accept you, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millicent-simmonds/if-you-re-disabled-or-different-from-what-general-society-deems/) [Millicent Simmonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millicent-simmonds/) > [Things don't go on forever, and the quicker you accept that change is inevitable, the happier you're gonna be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-anastasio/things-don-t-go-on-forever-and-the-quicker-you-accept-that-change-is/) [Trey Anastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-anastasio/) > [It's very important to me that people accept me as a transgendered female. 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