Reinhold NiebuhrThinkers

Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems.

Democracy is made possible by man's capacity for justice; it is made necessary by man's inclination to injustice.

Forgiveness is the final form of love.

Laughter is the beginning of prayer, while humor is the prelude to faith.

Nationalism is one of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.

Political violence is any kind of disruption, destruction, and injury, the effects of which have political significance.

Politics's sad duty is to establish justice in a sinful world.

Politics is the art of directing rationally the irrationalities of men.

Religion is always a citadel of hope, which is built on the edge of despair.

Self-mastery is difficulty, so we vainly try to make ourselves believe that the mastery of nature is an adequate substitute.

The Skyscraper is a hubristic tower of Babel.

Television is a device that may represent a threat to our culture analogous to the threat of atomic weapons to our civilization.