--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We take, and must continue to take…" description: "\"We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_action_we-take-and-must-continue-to-take-morall_311488.png" --- # We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous… ![“We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe that a nation is capable of perfect disinterestedness in its exercise, nor become complacent about a particular degree of interest and passion…” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_action_we-take-and-must-continue-to-take-morall_311488.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_action_we-take-and-must-continue-to-take-morall_311488.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_action_we-take-and-must-continue-to-take-morall_311488.png) > “We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe that a nation is capable of perfect disinterestedness in its exercise, nor become complacent about a particular degree of interest and passion which corrupt the justice by which the exercise of power is legitimatized.” [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. Powerful societies must act, but their actions are never truly self‑less; vigilance against self‑interest is essential. **In simple terms:** Power actions are never pure; stay alert to hidden motives. Key Takeaway Guard against complacency in moral decisions. Themes power morality politics Mood serious thoughtful Type political ethical When to use this quote - government policy - military interventions - corporate governance - activism Key Concepts ethical theory realism Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can prevent moral hazard? - How can societies balance power with humility? A Different Perspective Idealism alone cannot ensure ethical power use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) ## Related quotes > [If we are to preserve civilization, we must first remain civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-st-laurent/if-we-are-to-preserve-civilization-we-must-first-remain-civilized/) Louis St. Laurent > [It's surprising that readers don't see challenging writing as morally hazardous, when it might be pushing the same kinds of boundaries as art does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/araya-rasdjarmrearnsook/it-s-surprising-that-readers-don-t-see-challenging-writing-as-morally/) [Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/araya-rasdjarmrearnsook/) > [It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-seems-to-me-golan-that-the-advance-of-civilization-is-nothing-but/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Liberal democracy has endured because its institutions are designed for handling morally hazardous forms of coercive power. It puts the question of how far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/liberal-democracy-has-endured-because-its-institutions-are-designed/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“The advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-advance-of-civilization-is-nothing-but-an-exercise-in-the/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Power can be restrained only by counterbalancing power, Montesquieu reasoned. No man, and no political body or office, ought to possess unchecked power. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/power-can-be-restrained-only-by-counterbalancing-power-montesquieu/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [“The possibility of a question of this nature, proves the necessity of laying the foundations of our National Government deeper than in the mere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-possibility-of-a-question-of-this-nature-proves-the-necessity-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-truth-is-that-all-men-having-power-ought-to-be-mistrusted/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [It is at the heart of our human enterprise, that is to say, at the heart of society, to allow consensus a power it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/it-is-at-the-heart-of-our-human-enterprise-that-is-to-say-at-the/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [It is accepted as an axiom by all Americans that the civil power ought to be not only neutral and impartial as between different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryce/it-is-accepted-as-an-axiom-by-all-americans-that-the-civil-power/) [James Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryce/) > [This power ought to be coextensive with all the possible combinations of such circumstances; and ought to be under the direction of the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/this-power-ought-to-be-coextensive-with-all-the-possible-combinations/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/all-men-having-power-ought-to-be-distrusted-to-a-certain-degree/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-fabric-of-american-empire-ought-to-rest-on-the-solid-basis-of-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Power ought to serve as a check to power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/power-ought-to-serve-as-a-check-to-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## 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 Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Every thought I have imprisioned in expression I must free by my deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/every-thought-i-have-imprisioned-in-expression-i-must-free-by-my-deeds/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. 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