Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith.
Paul TillichRead
Every institution is inherently demonic.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that institutions may possess negative or corrupting qualities by their very nature.
Paul Tillich's assertion that 'every institution is inherently demonic' invites us to consider the dark aspects of organized structures and systems within society. He implies that institutions, while necessary for order and function, can often lead to dehumanization, moral decay, and the pursuit of power over ethical considerations. This viewpoint challenges individuals to remain vigilant about the nature of institutions they engage with and to question the moral implications of their influence on human behavior.
Themes
InstitutionDemonicPowerCorruptionMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about corporate ethics, this quote could be used to highlight the potential for corruption within large institutions.
More from Paul Tillich
All quotes βCruelty towards others is always also cruelty towards ourselves.
Paul TillichRead
He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being.
Paul TillichRead
The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.
Paul TillichRead
The citizens of a city are not guilty of the crimes committed in their city; but they are guilty as participants in the destiny of [humanity] as a whole and in the destiny of their city in particular; for their acts in which freedom was united with destiny have contributed to the destiny in which they participate. They are guilty, not of committing the crimes of which their group is accused, but of contributing to the destiny in which these crimes happened.
Paul TillichRead
Wine is like the incarnation--it is both divine and human
Paul TillichRead
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Consider the problem of over-population. Rapidly mounting human numbers are pressing ever more heavily on natural resources. What is to be_x000D_ done?... The annual increase of numbers should be reduced. But how? We_x000D_ are given two choices -- famine, pestilence and war on the one hand,_x000D_ birth control on the other. Most of us choose birth control.
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I do not know how to make a man think seriously about sin and judgment, and must look to the work of the Holy Spirit for any hint of such a working.
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For, the sense of being which in calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously from the same source whence their life and being also proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of action and of thought.
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A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means.
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People who have been wronged will attempt to right the wrong; they would not be people if they didn't. They can rarely afford to be scrupulous about the means they will use. They will use such means as come to hand. Neither, in the main, will they distinguish one oppressor from another, nor see through to the root principle of their oppression.
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I am forced to get my living by the labour of my hand; and the sweat of my brow... for bitter bread, earned under the frowns of some who have no natural or divine right to be above me, and entirely owe their grandeur and honor to grinding the faces of the poor.
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