Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes
We must take, and continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe that a nation is capable of perfect disinterestedness in its exercise nor become complacent about particular degrees of interest and passion which corrupt the justice by which the exercise of power is legitimized.
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971, Theologian, The Good Fight: Why Liberals- and Only Liberals- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Muslim clerics usually have little education beyond their study of the Koran and other holy books. Unlike most Western clerics who are college graduates, they often have little non-religious sophistication. This quotation is a great example of this. Al-Bouti, interviewed on Syrian TV accuses the United States of something that almost all basic students of political science and international relations know is true of every country including his own. However, the fundamentalist Muslim is supposed to be governed in all things by only one thing—the word of Allah as revealed by His Prophet Muhammad. So he believes that good, moral nations—especially Islamic ones will view the entire world, not through the lens of self interest but through the Koran. Syria, in particular, is one of the most selfish and least moral nations in its diplomacy and foreign policy and much of its activity would even be considered morally wrong by most moderate Islamic clergy.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America's leading public intellectuals for several decades of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man. The latter is ranked number 18 of the top 100 non-fiction books of the twentieth century by Modern Library. Andrew Bacevich labelled Niebuhr's book The Irony of American History "the most important book ever written on U.S. foreign policy." The historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. described Niebuhr as "the most influential American theologian of the 20th century" and Time posthumously called Niebuhr "the greatest Protestant theologian in America since Jonathan Edwards."
