QuoteProject
Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the interdependence between the strong and the weak in a community.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer highlights the essential connection within Christian communities, stating that strength and weakness are mutually dependent. The quote suggests that the strong individuals have a responsibility towards the weak, as their existence fosters fellowship and community; without this harmony, the very essence of togetherness is compromised.

Themes

CommunityStrengthWeaknessFellowshipInterdependence

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about teamwork, this quote can remind us of the importance of supporting each other.

More from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A home is a kingdom of it's own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amid life's storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Sometimes we just need a firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then let’s see something to prove it.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
It is God's earth out of which man is taken. From it he has his body. His body belongs to his essential being. Man's body is not his prison, his shell his exterior, but man himself. Man does not "have" a body; he does not "have" a soul; rather he "is" body and soul. Man in the beginning is really his body. He is one. He is his body, as Christ is completely his body, as the Church is the body of Christ
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead

Similar quotes

One of the reasons that metaphor and symbolism are important in books is because they are also important to life. Like, for example say you're in high school and you're a boy and you say to a girl: "Do you like anyone right now?" - that's not the question you're asking. The question you're asking is, "do you like me right now."
John GreenRead
It's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party.
Nick HornbyRead
A relationship is more of an assignment than a choice. We can walk away from the assignment, but we cannot walk away from the lessons it presents. We stay with a relationship until a lesson is learned, or we simply learn it another way.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
Dissensions between Muslim nations run at least as deep, if not deeper, than those nations' resentment of the West.
Salman RushdieRead
Choosing nonviolence does not mean that one will never get angry or become upset with others, including the ones we love.
Bernice KingRead
Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.
Brennan ManningRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.