116 Paul Tillich Quotes From The Existentialist Philosopher
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Paul Johannes Tillich was born on 20 August 1886.
Paul Tillich was an existentialist philosopher and a Lutheran Protestant theologian. Tullich died on 22 October 1965.
Tillich taught at many universities in Germany before he moved to the US in 1933. He also taught in various American universities like the University of Chicago, Union Theological Seminary, and Harvard Divinity School.
Even people who have no connection to theology often know Paul Tillich through his works. The most famous works by Paul Tillich are 'The Courage To Be' and 'Dynamics Of Faith', which were published in 1952 and 1957, respectively. In the field of theology he published a three-volume work called 'Systematic Theology'.
Below, we have collected some of the best Paul Tillich quotes. You will find quotes from 'Dynamics Of Faith' by Paul Tillich, Paul Tillich 'The Courage To Be' quotes, Paul Tillich quotations on doubt, Paul Tillich grace quotes, Paul Tillich aging quotes, and more quotes from Paul Tillich sermons.
If you like these Paul Tillich quotes, you can also check out these existentialism quotes and Jean-Paul Sartre quotes.
Famous Paul Tillich Quotes
Here, we have collected some famous quotes about theology and more by Paul Tillich.
1. "God's forgiveness is unconditional."
- Paul Tillich, 'The New Being'.
2. "Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone."
- Paul Tillich.
3. "Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny."
- Paul Tillich.
4. "There is no place to which we could flee from God, which is outside of God."
- Paul Tillich.
5. "There is no condition for forgiveness."
- Paul Tillich.
6. "Wine is like the incarnation - it is both divine and human."
- Paul Tillich.
7. "He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being."
- Paul Tillich.
8. "Astonishment is the root of philosophy."
- Paul Tillich.
9. "Destiny is not a strange power which determines what shall happen to me."
- Paul Tillich.
10. "Plato teaches the separation of the human soul from its 'home ' in the realm of pure essences."
- Paul Tillich.
11. "Since the last decades of the nineteenth century, revolt against the objectified world has determined the character of art and literature."
- Paul Tillich.
12. "Forgiving presupposes remembering."
- Paul Tillich.
13. "Man is free even from his freedom; that is, he can surrender his humanity."
- Paul Tillich.
14. "Meaninglessness is no threat so long as enthusiasm for the universe and for man as its center is alive."
- Paul Tillich.
15. "The anxiety of fate is conquered by self-affirmation of the individual as an infinitely significant microcosmic representation of the universe."
- Paul Tillich.
16. "The typical American, after he has lost the foundations of his existence, works for new foundations."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
17. "Spirit is the presence of what concerns us ultimately, the ground of our being and meaning."
- Paul Tillich.
18. "Providence is the faith that nothing can prevent us from fulfilling the ultimate meaning of our existence."
- Paul Tillich.
19. "Conversely, being human means receiving answers to the questions of own being and asking questions under the impact of the answers."
- Paul Tillich.
20. "And so we use them for a kind of pleasure which can be called 'fun.' But it is not the creative kind of fun often connected with play; it is, rather, a shallow, distracting, greedy way of 'having fun.'"
- Paul Tillich.
Paul Tillich Quotes On Acceptance
In this section you can discover what Paul Tillich thought about acceptance.
21. "Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!"
- Paul Tillich.
22. "No self-acceptance is possible if one is not accepted in a person-to-person relation."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
23. "There is a third element in absolute faith, the acceptance of being accepted."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
24. "If my tongue were trained to measures, I would sing a stirring song."
- Paul Tillich.
25. "The courage to be as oneself within the atmosphere of Enlightenment is the courage to affirm oneself as a bridge from a lower to a higher state of rationality."
- Paul Tillich.
26. "The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable."
- Paul Tillich.
27. "Man's ultimate concern must be expressed symbolically, because symbolic language alone is able to express the ultimate."
- Paul Tillich.
28. "Man is not what he believes himself to be in his conscious decisions."
- Paul Tillich.
29. "We must be ourselves, we must decide where to go."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
30. "Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt."
- Paul Tillich.
31. "We cannot love unless we have accepted the forgiveness, and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is, the greater is our love."
- Paul Tillich.
32. "You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know."
- Paul Tillich.
Paul Tillich Quotes On Love
Here are some Paul Tillich love quotes.
33. "The first duty of love is to listen."
- Paul Tillich.
34. "There is no truth without the form of truth, namely justice."
- Paul Tillich.,'Love, Power, And Justice'.
35. "One cannot be strong without love."
- Paul Tillich.
36. "... history has shown that the most terrible crimes against love have been committed in the name of fanatically defended doctrines."
- Paul Tillich.
37. "Joy is the emotional expression of the courageous yes to one's own true being."
- Paul Tillich.
38. "Our spirituality is the ground of our being."
- Paul Tillich.
39. "We can do no great things - only small things with great love."
- Paul Tillich.
40. "There is no love that does not become help."
- Paul Tillich.
41. "I have given no definition of love."
- Paul Tillich.
42. "Parents need to listen as much to their kids as they do to them."
- Paul Tillich.
43. "Being-itself is essentially productive."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
44. "The separation of faith and love is always a consequence of a deterioration of religion."
- Paul Tillich, 'Dynamics Of Faith'.
45. "For love is not an irrelevant emotion; it is the blood of life."
- Paul Tillich.
46. "Courage is a greater virtue than love. At best, it takes courage to love."
- Paul Tillich.
47. "Love is the infinite which is given to the finite."
- Paul Tillich.
48. "Love that cares, listens."
- Paul Tillich.
49. "The forms and structures in which love embodies itself are the forms and structures in which love overcomes its self-destructive forces."
- Paul Tillich.
Paul Tillich Quotes On Suffering
This section is all about quotes by Paul Tillich on suffering and theology.
50. "Boredom is rage spread thin."
- Paul Tillich.
51. "Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness."
- Paul Tillich.
52. "Loneliness can be conquered only by those who can bear solitude."
- Paul Tillich.
53. "Man and nature belong together in their created glory – in their tragedy and in their salvation."
- Paul Tillich.
54. "Life remains ambiguous as long as there is life."
- Paul Tillich.
55. "... sin is separation."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Essential Tillich'.
56. "Language… has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone."
- Paul Tillich.
57. "Cruelty towards others is always cruelty towards ourselves."
- Paul Tillich.
58. "In the depth of the anxiety of having to die is the anxiety of being eternally forgotten."
- Paul Tillich.
59. "We are known in a depth of darkness through which we ourselves do not even dare to look."
- Paul Tillich.
60. "Even loneliness is not absolute loneliness because the contents of the universe are in him."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
Paul Tillich Quotes On Wisdom
Here are some interesting wisdom quotes by Paul Tillich, the author of 'Systematic Theology'.
61. "The decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free."
- Paul Tillich.
62. "Existential anxiety of doubt drives the person toward the creation of certitude of systems of meaning, which are supported by tradition and authority."
- Paul Tillich.
63. "Mystical identification transcends the aristocratic virtue of courageous self-sacrifice."
- Paul Tillich.
64. "Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate?"
- Paul Tillich.
65. "Anxiety may consist of the loss of psychological or spiritual meaning which is identified with one's existence as a self, i.e., the threat of meaninglessness."
- Paul Tillich.
66. "Man is free, in so far as he has the power of contradicting himself and his essential nature."
- Paul Tillich.
67. "We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea."
- Paul Tillich.
68. "Doubt is the necessary tool of knowledge."
- Paul Tillich.
69. "Wisdom loves the children of men, but she prefers those who come through foolishness to wisdom."
- Paul Tillich.
70. "Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith."
- Paul Tillich.
71. "The passion for truth is silenced by answers which have the weight of undisputed authority."
- Paul Tillich.
72. "Cynically speaking, one could say that it is true to life to be cynical about it."
- Paul Tillich.
73. "The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements, as well as one's deepest failures is a definite symptom of maturity."
- Paul Tillich.
74. "Knowledge of that which concerns us infinitely is possible only in an attitude of infinite concern."
- Paul Tillich.
75. "Truth without the way to truth is dead."
- Paul Tillich.
76. "To overcome 'our' sense of aloneness is a lifelong pursuit - let us not despair in its pursuit!
- Paul Tillich, 'Boundaries Of Our Being'.
Paul Tillich Faith Quotes
Among these faith and doubt quotes, you will find Paul Tillich famous Christianity quotes, Paul Tillich existentialist quotes, Paul Tillich quotes about doubt, and more.
77. "No religion as such produces the New Being."
- Paul Tillich, 'The New Being'.
78. "Where there is faith there is an awareness of holiness."
- Paul Tillich.
79. "Faith as the state of being ultimately concerned implies love, namely, the desire and urge toward the reunion of the separated."
- Paul Tillich.
80. "Faith is an act of a finite being who is grasped by, and turned to, the infinite."
- Paul Tillich.
81. "Nothing truly real is forgotten eternally because everything real comes from eternity and goes to eternity."
- Paul Tillich.
82. "Enthusiasm for the universe, in knowing as well as in creating, also answers the question of doubt and meaninglessness."
- Paul Tillich.
83. "Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith."
- Paul Tillich.
84. "In the courageous standing of uncertainty, faith shows most visibly its dynamic character."
- Paul Tillich, 'Dynamics Of Faith'.
85. "Man was divided into a bloodless intellect and a meaningless vitality."
- Paul Tillich.
86. "... only the philosophical question is perennial, not the answers."
- Paul Tillich.
87. "He who knows about depth knows about God."
- Paul Tillich.
88. "In those who rest on their unshakable faith, pharisaism and fanaticism are the unmistakable symptoms of doubt which has been repressed."
- Paul Tillich.
89. "Neurosis is the way of avoiding non-being by avoiding being."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
90. "Sometimes I think it is my mission to bring faith to the faithless, and doubt to the faithful."
- Paul Tillich.
91. "Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea."
- Paul Tillich.
92. "Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains the answer to the question of the meaning of our life."
- Paul Tillich.
93. "God does not exist. He is being itself beyond essence and existence."
- Paul Tillich.
94. "Sometimes doubt conquers faith, but it still contains faith. Otherwise, it would be indifference."
- Paul Tillich.
95. "Fear is the absence of faith."
- Paul Tillich.
96. "Therefore to argue that God exists is to deny him."
- Paul Tillich.
97. "The fatal pedagogical error is to throw answers like stones at the heads of those who have not yet asked the questions."
- Paul Tillich.
The Best Paul Tillich Quotes
This section includes some of the best quotes in history by the philosopher and author of 'Systematic Theology'.
98. "Man is able to decide for or against reason, he is able to create beyond reason or to destroy below the reason."
- Paul Tillich.
99. "Where the New Reality appears, one feels united with God, the ground and meaning of one’s existence."
- Paul Tillich, 'The New Being'.
100. "The most intimate motions within the depths of our souls are not completely our own. "
- Paul Tillich.
101. "I hope for the day when everyone can speak of God without embarrassment."
- Paul Tillich.
102. "Without the eros toward truth, theology would not exist."
- Paul Tillich, 'Love, Power, And Justice'.
103. "Being human means asking the questions of one's own being and living under the impact of the answers given to this question."
- Paul Tillich.
104. "Individualism is the self-affirmation of the individual self as individual self without regard to its participation in its world."
- Paul Tillich.
105. "My destiny is the basis of my freedom; my freedom participates in shaping my destiny."
- Paul Tillich.
106. "Reason is the presupposition of faith, and faith is the fulfillment of reason."
- Paul Tillich.
107. "Every institution is inherently demonic."
- Paul Tillich.
108. "Real joy is a 'severe matter'; it is the happiness of a soul which is 'lifted above every circumstance.'"
- Paul Tillich, 'The Courage To Be'.
109. "Morality [or ethics] is not a subject; it is a life put to the test in dozens of moments."
- Paul Tillich.
110. "We have to build a better man before we can build a better society."
- Paul Tillich.
111. "The vitality that can stand the abyss of meaninglessness is aware of a hidden meaning within the destruction of meaning."
- Paul Tillich.
112. "The name of this infinite and inexhaustible depth and ground of all being is God."
- Paul Tillich.
113. "... we are seen in a height of a fullness which surpasses our highest vision."
- Paul Tillich.
114. "Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth of its foundations and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received."
- Paul Tillich.
115. "Every finite thing possesses a certain power of being of its own and thus possesses a capacity for fate."
- Paul Tillich, 'The Protestant Era'.
116. "Christianity sees in the picture of Jesus as the Christ a human life in which all forms of anxiety are present but in which all forms of despair are absent."
- Paul Tillich.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Paul Tillich quotes, then why not take a look at these Blaise Pascal quotes or Kant quotes too?
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