--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing that is worth doing can be…" description: "\"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.\" — Reinhold Niebuhr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png" --- # Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime… ![“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png) > “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” [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. Achieving great things exceeds a single lifetime; hope is essential to sustain effort beyond our years. **In simple terms:** Great goals need hope to last. Key Takeaway Cultivate hope for long‑term aspirations. Themes hope perseverance purpose Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - social activism - personal development - long‑term projects Key Concepts existentialism motivation Questions to Reflect On - How do you sustain hope when progress is slow? - What practical steps complement hope? A Different Perspective Hope alone cannot replace practical planning and resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achieved Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achieved-lifetime-4929536/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Lifetime Saved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime-saved-4929535/) [Saved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saved/) [Saved Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saved-hope-3724765/) ## Related quotes > [What cannot be achieved in one lifetime will happen when one lifetime is joined to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-s-kushner/what-cannot-be-achieved-in-one-lifetime-will-happen-when-one-lifetime/) [Harold S. Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-s-kushner/) > [In adversity man is saved by hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/in-adversity-man-is-saved-by-hope/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [“Hope is the greatest gift and the greatest evil...Hope saved us and hope might yet kill us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/hope-is-the-greatest-gift-and-the-greatest-evil-hope-saved-us-and/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achieved-in-our-lifetime-therefore/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [We immerse ourselves in escapist mass entertainment, such as 'reality T.V.' programs. We support fanatical politicians and preachers. Our politicians, in turn, support dictators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/we-immerse-ourselves-in-escapist-mass-entertainment-such-as-reality-t/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [What I'm interested in is to get people saved and to see the power of God spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/what-i-m-interested-in-is-to-get-people-saved-and-to-see-the-power-of/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) > [“Our mediator claims all of our sins and has paid for them with His blood. He provides all of the good works we need,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-edward-veith-jr/our-mediator-claims-all-of-our-sins-and-has-paid-for-them-with-his/) [Gene Edward Veith Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-edward-veith-jr/) > [Everyone should say what they wanted. It saved time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/everyone-should-say-what-they-wanted-it-saved-time/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [The book it reminded me of most is Henry Miller’s The Books in My Life. Like Miller, Shields manages to convey his affection for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-alexis/the-book-it-reminded-me-of-most-is-henry-miller-s-the-books-in-my/) [Andre Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-alexis/) > [Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/having-first-gained-all-you-can-and-secondly-saved-all-you-can-then/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [I think what saved me is me being honest. I think I somewhow had the courage to do something and say something that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/i-think-what-saved-me-is-me-being-honest-i-think-i-somewhow-had-the/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/in-the-affairs-of-this-world-men-are-saved-not-by-faith-but-by-the/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [When somebody's telling you you're godly and you saved their life, and this and that and the other, I'm going, 'Well, who's saving mine?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-moody/when-somebody-s-telling-you-you-re-godly-and-you-saved-their-life-and/) [Ivan Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-moody/) > [I was overcome by the Holy Ghost one time, but in a Baptist way. I was six or seven, and I was saved. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-was-overcome-by-the-holy-ghost-one-time-but-in-a-baptist-way-i-was/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [“We are saved not because we are worthy. We are saved because we are loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-williams/we-are-saved-not-because-we-are-worthy-we-are-saved-because-we-are/) [Joy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-williams/) ## 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 Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) [Simone Abou Samra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-abou-samra/) > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Reinhold Niebuhr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achieved-in-a-lifetime-therefore/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hope" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achieved-in-a-lifetime-therefore/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_hope_nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achie_1404250.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” — Reinhold Niebuhr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Reinhold Niebuhr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nothing that is worth doing can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achieved-in-a-lifetime-therefore/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nothing-that-is-worth-doing-can-be-achieved-in-a-lifetime-therefore/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```