The Classic Pamela Positive: Serenity, Courage and Wisdom

\”God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change; The courage to change the things I can; And the wisdom to know the difference.\”

– Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr

Professor, Reformed Theologian, Ethicist,

Commentator on Politics and Public Affairs

Dr. Niebuhr’s quote is one of the most world renowned, for he paints to the fact that “everything you need is already inside,” and the importance of believing in oneself, balanced with a practical sense of what can be done.  We should encourage ourselves in areas in which we can truly make a change.  Of course the process of trying, especially if we love it, is important to our growth at times. At other times, we need to let go and focus on the positive mountain which is beckoning us to climb it.

For the most part, it does come down to motives, too. If it is our past, you cannot change it.  Therefore his wisdom guides us.  Focus on the present, right now, right now, right now…in order to live fully and effect change as we speak…

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Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr was a theologian and orator.  He was an outspoken critic of poor industry conditions in factories.  He supported unions by letting organizers use his pulpit to advocate for workers rights.  He edited the magazine Christianity and Crisis for more than twenty years, and published a number of books and essays, including The Nature and Destiny of Man.  He was married to Ursula Keppel-Compton, a leading figure at Barnard College, who worked with Niebuhr on his writing.

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