Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him whether the heart is full or empty.

If we are to pray aright perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer not the poverty of our heart.

The entire day receives order and discipline when it acquires unity. This unity must be sought and found in morning prayer. The morning prayer determines the day.

Temptations which accompany the working day will be conquered on the basis of the morning breakthrough to God. Decisions demanded by work become easier and simpler where they are made not in the fear of men but only in the sight of God. He wants to give us today the power which we need for our work.

One's task is not to turn the world upside down but to do what is necessary at the given place and with a due consideration of reality.

Time is lost when we have not lived a full human life time unenriched by experience creative endeavor enjoyment and suffering.

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

It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.