Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
Man has always been his own most vexing problem.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Human beings often struggle with their own thoughts and nature, making themselves their own greatest challenge.
The quote suggests that individuals are frequently their own worst enemies, grappling with internal conflicts, doubts, and complexities of the human condition. This introspection can lead to personal struggles that hinder growth and understanding, implying that self-awareness and acceptance are essential to overcoming one's own issues.
Themes
SelfStruggleProblemHumanityIntrospection
In practice
Example use cases
In a self-help seminar, one could cite this quote to emphasize the importance of understanding one's inner challenges.
More from Reinhold Niebuhr
All quotes βThe tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
The mastery of nature is vainly believed to be an adequate substitute for self mastery.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
All you earnest young men out to save the world. . . please, have a laugh.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
Forgiveness is the final form of love.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
Similar quotes
What you don't understand is that it is possible to be an atheist, it is possible not to know if God exists or why He should, and yet to believe that man does not live in a state of nature but in history, and that history as we know it now began with Christ, it was founded by Him on the Gospels.
Boris PasternakRead
When I see someone like Richard Dawkins, I see my father. I grew up with that. I'm basically the child of Richard Dawkins.
Alain De BottonRead
Land. If you understand nothing else about the history of Indians in North America, you need to understand that the question that really matters is the question of land.
Thomas KingRead
My passport photo is one of the most remarkable photographs I have ever seen- no retouching, no shadows, no flattery-just stark me.
Anne Morrow LindberghRead
Why was this heart of mine formed with so much sensibility! Or why not my fortune adapted to its impulses! Tenderness without a capacity of relieving only makes the man who feels it more wretched than the object which sues for assistance.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which excites men to wish all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead