Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.

3895

The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.

1320

The Christian life is participation in the encounter of Christ with the world.

4526

God is never in the world in any way except in his absolute transcendence of it.

4898

God loves his work and therefore wills to preserve it. Creation and preservation are two aspects of the one activity of God.

3661

Principles are only tools in the hands of God; they will soon be thrown away when they are no longer useful.

4264

We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.

1888

Jesus himself did not try to convert the two thieves on the cross; he waited until one of them turned to him.

3129

Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.

3219

Being free means "being free for the other," because the other has bound me to him. Only in relationship with the other am I free

3218

Every wedding must be an occasion of joy that human beings can do such great things, that they have been given such immense freedom and power to take the helm in their life’s journey…

2519

We ought not to be in too much of a hurry here to speak piously of God’s will and guidance. It is obvious, and it should not be ignored, that it is your own very human wills that are at work here, celebrating their triumph; the course that you are taking at the outset is one that you have chosen for yourselves…

3281

Man no longer lives in the beginning-he has lost the beginning. Now he finds he is in the middle, knowing neither the end nor the beginning, and yet knowing that he is in the middle, coming from the beginning and going towards the end. He sees that his life is determined by these two facets, of which he knows only that he does not know them

2780

Judgement is the forbidden objectivization of the other person which destroys single-minded love. I am not forbidden to have my own thoughts about the other person, to realize his shortcomings, but only to the extent that it offers to me an occasion for forgiveness and unconditional love, as Jesus proves to me.

4784

It is a wicked sophistry to justify the worldliness of the Church by the cross of Christ.

2970

Justification is the new creation of the new man, and sanctification his preservation until the day of Jesus Christ.

2159

If you board the wrong train it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.

1548

From now on there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.

1823

It is not your love that sustains the marriage,
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.

4702

Events cast their shadows ahead; before a harsh winter, wild animals grow thicker fur, and the beaver puts on a thicker layer of fat. What kind of times and what sort of tasks can lie ahead for a generation that must think so harshly, even at such a young age, in order to survive?

1867

Not in the flight of ideas, but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of the living.

3172

Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.

1700

It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated

2309

Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritual love loves him for Christ's sake. Therefore, human love seeks direct contact with the other person; it loves him not as a free person but as one whom it binds to itself. It wants to gain, to capture by every means; it uses force. It desires to be irresistible, to rule.

1645

Political action means taking on responsibility. This cannot happen without power. Power is to serve responsibility.

4601