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Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes - Page 4

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Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.

Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Community, Path
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1996). “Life Together: Prayerbook of the Bible”, Fortress Pr

The deep meaning of the cross of Christ is that there is no suffering on earth that is not borne by God.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Suffering, Earth, Christ

In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don't insist on your rights, don't blame each other, don't judge or condemn each other, don't find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Inspirational, Marriage, Heart
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.26, Simon and Schuster

Sometimes we just need a firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then let’s see something to prove it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mean, Expectations, Pants

Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. We are fighting today for costly grace.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Fighting, Grace, Enemy
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.3, SCM Press

The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Grace, Ruins
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.14, SCM Press

A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Brother, Hate
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.65, SCM Press

He who fears the face of God does not fear the face of man. He who fears the face of man does not fear the face of God.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Men, Doe, Faces

Must the Christian go around looking for a cross to bear, seeking to suffer? No, insisted Bonhoeffer. Opportunities for bearing crosses will occur along life's way and all that is required is the willingness to act when the time comes. The needs of the neighbor, especially those of the weak and downtrodden, the victimized and the persecuted, the ill and the lonely, will become abundantly evident.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Lonely, Opportunity

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Inspirational, Life, Thank You
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.52, Simon and Schuster

A righteous person is one who lives for the next generation.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Generations, Next, Righteous

We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to the next in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves, in order not to have to look at ourselves in the mirror.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mirrors, Order, Silence
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, David McI. Gracie (2000). “Meditating on the Word”, p.50, Rowman & Littlefield

Time is the most precious gift in our possession, for it is the most irrevocable. This is what makes it so disturbing to look back upon the time which we have lost. Time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time unenriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment, and suffering. Time lost is time not filled, time left empty.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Time, Creative, Suffering
Life Magazine (p. 47), April 22, 1957; later quoted in Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Letters and Papers from Prison" (p. 47), 1967.

Wherever there are sinners, the weak, the sorrowful, the poor in the world, that is where God goes.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God, Christian, World

Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Men, Light
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.33, SCM Press

The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential. But on the other hand, knowledge of an apparently trivial detail quite often makes it possible to see into the depth of things. And so the wise man will seek to acquire the best possible knowledge about events, but always without becoming dependent upon this knowledge. To recognize the significant in the factual is wisdom.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Wise, Reality, Men
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1965). “Ethics”

I need the Christ that is in you, and you need the Christ that is in me.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Needs, Christ

So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make him aggressive. A fool must therefore be treated more cautiously than a scoundrel.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Self, Doe, Fool
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.10, Simon and Schuster

If we look more closely, we see that any violent display of power, whether political or religious, produces an outburst of folly in a large part of mankind; indeed, this seems actually to be a psychological and sociological law: the power of some needs the folly of others. It is not that certain human capacities, intellectual capacities for instance, become stunted of destroyed, but rather that the upsurge of power makes such an overwhelming impression that men are deprived of their independent judgment, and...give up trying to assess the new state of affairs for themselves.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Religious, Giving Up, Independent
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.10, Simon and Schuster

The gift of Christ is not the Christian religion, but the grace and love of God which culminate in the cross.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Grace, And Love
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2007). “I Want to Live These Days with You: A Year of Daily Devotions”, p.144, Westminster John Knox Press

Because I am a Christian, therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God's Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon the firm ground of the Word of God. And, as a Christian, I learn to know the Holy Scriptures in no other way than by hearing the Word preached and by prayerful meditation.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Moving, Meditation
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, David McI. Gracie (2000). “Meditating on the Word”, p.22, Rowman & Littlefield

Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy's hatred, the greater his need of love.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Hatred, Enemy
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.97, SCM Press

God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Emotion
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.15, SCM Press

Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected.... Hoarding is idolatry.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Hoarding, Wealth, Used
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.120, SCM Press

Only he who gives thanks for the little things receives the big things.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Giving, Littles, Thanks

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