The essence of man is his freedom. Sin is committed in that freedom. Sin can therefore not be attributed to a defect in his essence. It can only be understood as a self-contradiction, made possible by the fact of his freedom but not following necessarily from it.
REINHOLD NIEBUHRFreedom is necessary for two reasons. It’s necessary for the individual, because the individual, no matter how good the society is, every individual has hopes, fears, ambitions, creative urges, that transcend the purposes of his society.
More Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes
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Humour is, in fact, a prelude to faith; and laughter is the beginning of prayer … Laughter is swallowed up in prayer and humour is fulfilled by faith.
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We judge the Russians because they’re living under despotism and we don’t like it, but we’ve gotten into a fix now where we’re living in a common predicament, and we ought to recognize this common predicament.
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Every experience proves that the real problem of our existence lies in the fact that we ought to love one another, but do not.
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What is funny about us is precisely that we take ourselves too seriously.
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In the 17th and 18th centuries there was a kind of Protestantism that said, “If you could only get rid of the Bishop, then you’d be a true Christian”.
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The chief source of man’s inhumanity to man seems to be the tribal limits of his sense of obligation to other men.
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A republic properly understood is a sovereignty of justice, in contradistinction to a sovereignty of will.
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There must be equality of all men before God and in a democratic society. Now that’s one of the great achievements.
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Adam Smith’s was a real universalism in intent. Laissez Faire was intended to establish a world community as well as a natural harmony of interests within each nation… But the “children of darkness” were able to make good use of his creed.
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At least, nothing in the natural scene can arouse his bias. Furthermore, he stands completely outside of the natural so that his mind, whatever his limitations, approximates pure mind.
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That is the truth about man – that he has a curious kind of dignity, but also a curious kind of misery, and that these forms of agnosticism don’t understand.
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For democracy is a method of finding proximate solutions for insoluble problems.
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We have, on the whole, more liberty and less equality than Russia has. Russia has less liberty and more equality. Whether democracy should be defined primarily in terms of liberty or equality is a source of unending debate.
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Reason tends to check selfish impulses and to grant the satisfaction of legitimate impulses in others.
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If you equate God’s judgment with your judgment, you have a wrong religion.
REINHOLD NIEBUHR