--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My personal attitude toward atheists is…" description: "\"My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: \"By their fruit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_agnostic_my-personal-attitude-toward-atheists-is_2265975.png" --- # My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude… ![“My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By their fruits shall ye know them." I wouldn't judge a man by the presuppositions of his life, but only by the fruits of his life. And the fruits - the relevant…” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_agnostic_my-personal-attitude-toward-atheists-is_2265975.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_agnostic_my-personal-attitude-toward-atheists-is_2265975.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_agnostic_my-personal-attitude-toward-atheists-is_2265975.png) > “My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By their fruits shall ye know them." I wouldn't judge a man by the presuppositions of his life, but only by the fruits of his life. And the fruits - the relevant fruits - are, I'd say, a sense of charity, a sense of proportion, a sense of justice. And whether the man is an atheist or a Christian, I would judge him by his fruits, and I have therefore many agnostic friends.” [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. Judgment should be based on actions and character, not labels; both believers and non‑believers can exhibit virtue. **In simple terms:** Judge people by deeds, not belief. Key Takeaway Focus on fruit of actions over doctrine. Themes tolerance character ethics Mood thoughtful balanced Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - community service - interfaith dialogue - personal reflection Key Concepts fruit metaphor interfaith respect moral assessment Questions to Reflect On - How do you evaluate someone's character? - What virtues matter most to you? A Different Perspective Simplistic judgments ignore complex humanity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agnostic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnostic/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Charity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Orthodox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orthodox/) ## Related quotes > [My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/my-personal-attitude-toward-atheists-is-the-same-attitude-that-i-have/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Whether the man is an atheist or a Christian, I would judge him by his fruits, and I have therefore many agnostic friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/whether-the-man-is-an-atheist-or-a-christian-i-would-judge-him-by-his/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [the usual attitude of Christians towards Jews is - I hardly know whether to say more impious or more stupid, when viewed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-usual-attitude-of-christians-towards-jews-is-i-hardly-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“When abandoned babies were left out on the streets and back alleys, the Christians in North Africa organized baby runs and brought these babies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/when-abandoned-babies-were-left-out-on-the-streets-and-back-alleys/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist, must be rather silly people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-born/those-who-say-that-the-study-of-science-makes-a-man-an-atheist-must/) [Max Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-born/) > [A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/a-man-cannot-become-an-atheist-merely-by-wishing-it/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The footprint of the savage traced in the sand is sufficient to attest the presence of man to the atheist who will not recognize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-miller/the-footprint-of-the-savage-traced-in-the-sand-is-sufficient-to/) [Hugh Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-miller/) > [A little philosophy makes a man an Atheist: a great deal converts him to religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/a-little-philosophy-makes-a-man-an-atheist-a-great-deal-converts-him/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Man can be an atheist only in theory, not in practice, because the universe is too frightening and too chaotic to be too independent!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/man-can-be-an-atheist-only-in-theory-not-in-practice-because-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-pious-man-is-one-who-would-be-an-atheist-if-the-king-were/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [“By the time I had complete my 22nd year, I was a new man - an atheist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-bartok/by-the-time-i-had-complete-my-22nd-year-i-was-a-new-man-an-atheist/) [Béla Bartók](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-bartok/) > [“It doesn't sound logical to say that a man is an atheist just because he's probably someone who knows his own God...personally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta-betelgeuse-incident/it-doesn-t-sound-logical-to-say-that-a-man-is-an-atheist-just-because/) [Toba Beta \[Betelgeuse Incident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta-betelgeuse-incident/) > [It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. . . . We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/it-is-hard-to-see-how-a-great-man-can-be-an-atheist-we-need-to-feel/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [I consider myself spiritual and I'm married to a man who is both an atheist and a humanist, and my kids have been raised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-consider-myself-spiritual-and-i-m-married-to-a-man-who-is-both-an/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Without the sustaining influence of faith in a divine power we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/it-is-hard-to-see-how-a-great-man-can-be-an-atheist-without-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) ## 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... The Marxist illusion is partly derived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/liberalism-makes-this-mistake-in-regard-to-private-property-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Human beings are endowed by nature with both selfish and unselfish impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/human-beings-are-endowed-by-nature-with-both-selfish-and-unselfish/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [There are historic situations in which refusal to defend the inheritance of a civilization, however imperfect, against tyranny and aggression may result in consequences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-historic-situations-in-which-refusal-to-defend-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/reinhold-niebuhr/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-i-cannot-change/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Freedom is necessary for two reasons. 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 Agnostic quotes > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [The prayer of the agnostic: "O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-renan/the-prayer-of-the-agnostic-o-god-if-there-is-a-god-save-my-soul-if-i/) [Ernest Renan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-renan/) > [I'm actually, for the most part, a complete agnostic politically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-witten/i-m-actually-for-the-most-part-a-complete-agnostic-politically/) [Edward Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-witten/) > [Even when I was saying I was Agnostic and trying to figure out my thoughts, I felt God was allowing me to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfre-woodard/even-when-i-was-saying-i-was-agnostic-and-trying-to-figure-out-my/) [Alfre Woodard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfre-woodard/) > [There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-in-fact-nothing-about-religious-opinions-that-entitles-them/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/some-people-are-so-stiff-and-inhumane-as-the-dogma-s-they-believe-in/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [If a humanist or an atheist or an agnostic says, "We'll bake you a pie," we can go right into the kitchen and bake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/if-a-humanist-or-an-atheist-or-an-agnostic-says-we-ll-bake-you-a-pie/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [I'm agnostic because I went through the usual process of parents insisting you go to church, and yet they didn't. So there's me, sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/i-m-agnostic-because-i-went-through-the-usual-process-of-parents/) [Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/) > [Intellect, at its best, can make you agnostic. Being theist or atheist is still a matter of choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/intellect-at-its-best-can-make-you-agnostic-being-theist-or-atheist/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [To be agnostic is to be open-minded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-agnostic-is-to-be-open-minded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All Gaza's temples are torn down and burned and the city is cleansed of every belief but the Christian faith. The most stubborn opponents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsay-macmullen/all-gaza-s-temples-are-torn-down-and-burned-and-the-city-is-cleansed/) [Ramsay MacMullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsay-macmullen/) > [I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-still-agnostic-but-in-the-words-of-elton-richards-i-m-now-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'm agnostic. By definition, I'm unsure of what to believe in, but I'm also borderline-capable of believing in anything and everything, or nothing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-lola/i-m-agnostic-by-definition-i-m-unsure-of-what-to-believe-in-but-i-m/) [Lauren Lola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-lola/) > [“The Agnostic is one who asserts 'what no one denies' that there are limits to the sphere of human intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-stephen/the-agnostic-is-one-who-asserts-what-no-one-denies-that-there-are/) [Leslie Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-stephen/) [Browse all 492 Agnostic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnostic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: \"By their fruits shall ye know them.\" I wouldn't judge a man by the presuppositions of his life, but only by the fruits of his life. 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