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
The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Politics serves the challenging role of creating fairness in an imperfect world.
Reinhold Niebuhr's quote reflects the complex nature of politics as both a necessary and often arduous endeavor. It acknowledges that while the world may be flawed and marred by injustice, the responsibility of political leaders is to strive for justice, indicating that such efforts are inevitable yet solemn in the face of human imperfection. It emphasizes the moral duty to work towards a just society despite the inherent struggles of human nature.
Themes
PoliticsJusticeSinDutyWorld
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on moral responsibility in governance.
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
The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
Make your will one! Don't listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, the mind stops with recognition, but spirit is empty- and waits on all things. The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.
ZhuangziRead
The Bible is the cornerstone of liberty.
Thomas JeffersonRead
I shall ask for the abolition for the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
Try to understand what I am saying: everything is dependent on everything else, everything is connected, nothing is separate. Therefore everything is going in the only way it can go. If people were different everything would be different. They are what they are, so everything is as it is.
G. I. GurdjieffRead