Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act.

We do things for good reasons that are bad.

You can construct the character of a man and his age not only from what he does and says, but from what he fails to say and do.

It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.

We are not put into the world to sit still and know, we are put in it to act.

The master action, to move forward is a form of inaction; being still and quiet.

True silence is really endless speech.

I have nothing to say, and I am saying it.

Duty is one and invariable; it requires no impossibilities, nor can it ever be disregarded with impunity; so far as it exists, it is binding, so as on no account to be neglected.

Whoever can, should.

If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger

I am only one. But I am one. I cannot do everything. But I can do something. What I can do I ought to do. What I ought to do I will do

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

It's hard to misquote someone who doesn't say anything.

Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words.

In my life as a soldier and citizen, I have seen time and time again that inaction has dire consequences.

I think it's not about what you say; it's about what you don't say.

Sometimes people give away more by not saying something.

Sometimes,doing nothing is the best reaction.

He that will not whan he may,Whan he would, he shall haue nay.

So much is happening and yet nothing at all.

The most important thing we do is not doing.

Not responding is a response - we are equally responsible for what we don't do.

He, who is not prepared today, will be less so tomorrow.