--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that when we believe that…" description: "\"I think that when we believe that something is right, there's a serious ambivalence about it. On one hand, you say, because it's right, it must be vict..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ambivalence_i-think-that-when-we-believe-that-someth_3059322.jpg" --- # I think that when we believe that something is right… ![“I think that when we believe that something is right, there's a serious ambivalence about it. On one hand, you say, because it's right, it must be victorious. On the other hand, you say, it's right whether it's victorious or not. And this is what I believe about a free society.” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ambivalence_i-think-that-when-we-believe-that-someth_3059322.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ambivalence_i-think-that-when-we-believe-that-someth_3059322.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ambivalence_i-think-that-when-we-believe-that-someth_3059322.jpg) > “I think that when we believe that something is right, there's a serious ambivalence about it. On one hand, you say, because it's right, it must be victorious. On the other hand, you say, it's right whether it's victorious or not. And this is what I believe about a free society.” [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. Believing something is right creates tension between moral victory and practical success in a free society. **In simple terms:** Rightness can conflict with winning. Key Takeaway Balance ideals with realistic outcomes. Themes ethics politics freedom Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - activism - public discourse - education reform Key Concepts moral philosophy societal structures Questions to Reflect On - When should compromise be accepted? - How to reconcile moral goals with results? A Different Perspective Idealism may hinder pragmatic solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambivalence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-free/) [Believe Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-right/) [Free society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-society/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [I believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-believe/) [Right Ambivalence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-ambivalence-1834882/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. Certainty is American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/we-don-t-do-ambivalence-well-in-america-we-do-courage-of-our/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I believe in a free society, where aspiration and effort can make the difference in every life. Where your starting point is not your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/i-believe-in-a-free-society-where-aspiration-and-effort-can-make-the/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [Not only in America but in Germany, in France since the war, in Germany after the First World War, the Germany of Adenauer, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/not-only-in-america-but-in-germany-in-france-since-the-war-in-germany/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [No. I believe in free will. I think we make our own decisions and carry out our own actions. And our actions have consequences.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/no-i-believe-in-free-will-i-think-we-make-our-own-decisions-and-carry/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) > [“I have no choice but to believe in free will" Tomlinson”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-wayne-white/i-have-no-choice-but-to-believe-in-free-will-tomlinson/) [Randy Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-wayne-white/) > [I believe in free love and that's just how I feel. It's just my experience of being with different kinds of men and being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/i-believe-in-free-love-and-that-s-just-how-i-feel-it-s-just-my/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [I was brought up to believe in free will. Although I came to doubt all revelation, I can never accept the idea that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/i-was-brought-up-to-believe-in-free-will-although-i-came-to-doubt-all/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Frankly, returning the briefing is something that sends a message to the world that we're not afraid to engage. We're not afraid. We believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-psaki/frankly-returning-the-briefing-is-something-that-sends-a-message-to/) [Jen Psaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-psaki/) > [“I believe in free will. I think we make our own decisions and carry out or own actions. And our actions have consequences. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/i-believe-in-free-will-i-think-we-make-our-own-decisions-and-carry/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) > [I have dated all races, and I believe you should be free to do whatever you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanaa-lathan/i-have-dated-all-races-and-i-believe-you-should-be-free-to-do/) [Sanaa Lathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanaa-lathan/) > [The reality is, we have had filled rooms wherever we've spoken, and in New Zealand, the left and the right have been coming together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-southern/the-reality-is-we-have-had-filled-rooms-wherever-we-ve-spoken-and-in/) [Lauren Southern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-southern/) > [“In my heart, I am American, and I believe I have a free will and can take charge of my own destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/in-my-heart-i-am-american-and-i-believe-i-have-a-free-will-and-can/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“ Niemand ist mehr Sklave, als der sich für frei hält, ohne es zu sein . None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/niemand-ist-mehr-sklave-als-der-sich-f-r-frei-h-lt-ohne-es-zu-sein/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/my-first-act-of-free-will-shall-be-to-believe-in-free-will/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I believe in free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessa-crispin/i-believe-in-free-will/) [Jessa Crispin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessa-crispin/) ## 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. Sin is committed in that freedom. Sin can therefore not be attributed to a defect in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-essence-of-man-is-his-freedom-sin-is-committed-in-that-freedom/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Liberalism makes this mistake in regard to private property and Marxism makes it in regard to socialized property... 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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/) [Explore all 200 Reinhold Niebuhr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) ## More Ambivalence quotes > [The less obvious hurdle is that of preparing parents emotionally and putting forward realistic images of parenthood and motherhood. There also needs to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/the-less-obvious-hurdle-is-that-of-preparing-parents-emotionally-and/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) [Echo and the Bunnymen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-and-the-bunnymen/) > [The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-base-of-artistic-pursuit-is-ambivalence-and-complexity-and-that-s/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [We British play an important role in Europe, even if we have a traditional and historical ambivalence towards the continent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-barber/we-british-play-an-important-role-in-europe-even-if-we-have-a/) [Lionel Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-barber/) > [“Raising a child is the very definition of ambivalence. I am overwhelmed at times by how something can simultaneously be so awful and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/raising-a-child-is-the-very-definition-of-ambivalence-i-am/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. 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Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/horizontality-is-a-desire-to-give-up-to-sleep-verticality-is-an/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) [Browse all 121 Ambivalence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think that when we believe that something is right, there's a serious ambivalence about it. On one hand, you say, because it's right, it must be victorious. On the other hand, you say, it's right whether it's victorious or not. 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