remembering dietrich bonhoeffer

(4 february 1906 - 9 april 1945)

"action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."

"one act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons."

"the ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves for its children."

"a prison cell, in which one waits, hopes -- and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of advent."

"a god who lets us prove his existence would be an idol."

"the mark of solitude is silence, as speech is the mark of community. silence and speech have the same inner correspondence and difference as do solitude and community. one does not exist without the other. right speech comes out of silence, and right silence comes out of speech."

"to endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to jesus christ."

"gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy."

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


more info:
international dietrich bonhoeffer society
wikipedia
us holocaust memorial museum
the internet encyclopedia of philosophy
center of theological inquiry
speaking of faith: ethics and the will of god