Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr was a USA theologian and author, pioneered the philosophy of "Christian realism"; wrote Nature and Destiny of Man, 1943; received Medal of Freedom, 1964.

Niebuhr's best known prayer

Niebuhr quotes:

"A wise architect observed that you could break the laws of architectural art provided you had mastered them first. That would apply to religion as well as to art. Ignorance of the past does not guarantee freedom from its imperfections." - Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, 1930

"The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men." A Conversation with an Angel

"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.

Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love."

"Original sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it." - Obituary in "Newsweek," 14 Jun 1972

- Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)