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

Reinhold Niebuhr

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Reinhold Niebuhr
Age: 78 †
Born: 1892
Born: June 21
Died: 1971
Died: June 1
Ethicist
Philosopher
Political Scientist
Theologian
University Teacher
Wright City
Missouri
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr
Problem
Escapes
Way
Nationalism
Men
Ethical
Life
Effective
Problems
Modern
Ways
Nations

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Democracies are indeed slow to make war, but once embarked upon a martial venture are equally slow to make peace and reluctant to make a tolerable, rather than a vindictive, peace.
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To the end of history, social orders will probably destroy themselves in an effort to prove they are indestructible.
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The recalcitrant forces in the historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning.
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All social cooperation on a larger scale than the most intimate social group requires a measure of coercion.
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It is my strong conviction that a realist conception of human nature should be made a servant of an ethic of progressive justice and should not be made into a bastion of conservatism, particularly a conservatism which defends unjust privileges.
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Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges which they hold.
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If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else.
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I thank heaven I have often had it in my power to give help and relief, and this is still my greatest pleasure. If I could choose my sphere of action now, it would be that of the most simple and direct efforts of this kind.
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Better not read books in which you make acquaintance of the devil.
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Man is both strong and weak, both free and bound, both blind and far-seeing. He stands at the juncture of nature and spirit and is involved in both freedom and necessity.
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To be religious is not to feel, but to be.
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Aim for the stars and maybe you'll reach the sky.
Reinhold Niebuhr
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We have had to learn that history is neither a God nor a redeemer.
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I think that the achievements of Catholicism on race are very, very impressive.
Reinhold Niebuhr
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The cross symbolizes a cosmic as well as historic truth. Love conquers the world, but its victory is not an easy one.
Reinhold Niebuhr
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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 Niebuhr
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It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth.
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No nation can say, 'We will capitulate to tyranny rather than accept a speculative fate - to accept an absolute fate in alternative to a speculative one' - no nation can do that.
Reinhold Niebuhr
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If you equate God's judgment with your judgment, you have a wrong religion.
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Religion mustn't interfere with the state - so one of the basic Democratic principles as we know it in America is the separation of church and state.
Reinhold Niebuhr