Paul Tillich Quotes - Page 2

We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea.

Every institution is inherently demonic.

Where there is faith there is an awareness of holiness.

Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.

Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free.

The separation of faith and love is always a consequence of a deterioration of religion.

The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.

There is no condition for forgiveness.

Love is the infinite which is given to the finite.

Faith is an act of a finite being who is grasped by, and turned to, the infinite.

Spirit is the presence of what concerns us ultimately, the ground of our being and meaning.

The basic anxiety, the anxiety of a finite being about the threat of non-being, cannot be eliminated. It belongs to existence itself.

The character of human life, like the character of the human condition, like the character of all life, is "ambiguity": the inseparable mixture of good and evil, the true and false, the creative and destructive forces-both individual and social.

Accept the fact that you are accepted, despite the fact that you are unacceptable.

Cruelty towards others is always also cruelty towards ourselves.

Doubt is the necessary tool of knowledge.

Every person, every place and every action is qualified by this association with the unconditional; it penetrates every moment of daily life and sanctifies it: "The Universe is God's sanctuary. Every work day is a day of the Lord, every supper is a Lord's supper, every work a fulfillment of the divine task, every joy a joy in God. In all preliminary concerns, ultimate concern is present, consecrating them."

Destiny is not a strange power which determines what shall happen to me. It is myself as given, formed by nature, history, and myself. My destiny is the basis of my freedom; my freedom participates in shaping my destiny.

Fear is the absence of faith.

I hope for the day when everyone can speak again of God without embarrassment.

Being human means asking the questions of one's own being and living under the impact of the answers given to this question. And, conversely, being human means receiving answers to the questions of one's own being and asking questions under the impact of the answers.

The passion for truth is silenced by answers which have the weight of undisputed authority.

There is no place to which we could flee from God, which is outside of God.

Faith is the state of being ultimately concerned.

...history has shown that the most terrible crimes against love have been committed in the name of fanatically defended doctrines.