Paul Tillich Quotes on Life
Paul Tillich, one of the most widely read religious thinkers of the twentieth century, reflected deeply on the human condition, and the quotes gathered here present his characteristic themes. Tillich held that the defining mark of life is ambiguity, the inseparable mixture of good and evil, of true and false, of creative and destructive forces, and that to be aware of this ambiguity, even in one's own highest achievements, is a definite symptom of maturity. He gave a famous definition of faith as the state of being ultimately concerned, the orientation of a life toward what matters to it infinitely. And he treated doubt not as the enemy of such faith but as the necessary tool of knowledge. Drawn from The Courage to Be and his other works, these passages present life as ambiguous, anxious, and yet open to courage and ultimate concern.
Quotes
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Attributed to Paul Tillich:
“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone; solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”
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“It is my conviction that the character of the human condition, like the character of all life, is "ambiguity": the inseparable mixture of good and evil, of true and false, of creative and destructive forces—both individual and social. Sometimes I have the feeling that [irony] shows some awareness of the ambiguity of life—as long as it does not degenerate into mere cynicism. The awareness of the ambiguity of one's own highest achievements (as well as one's own deepest failures) is a definite symptom of maturity.”
The Ambiguity of Perfection”, Time (May 17, 1963) -
“One of the unfortunate consequences of the intellectualization of man's spiritual life was that the word "spirit" was lost and replaced by mind or intellect, and that the element of vitality which is present in “spirit” was separated and interpreted as an independent biological force. Man was divided into a bloodless intellect and a meaningless vitality. The middle ground between them, the spiritual soul, in which vitality and intentionality are united, was dropped.”
p. 82 -
“[American] conformism might approximate collectivism, not so much in economic respects, and not too much in political respects, but very much in the pattern of daily life and thought. Whether this will happen or not, and if it does to what degree, is partly dependent on the power of resistance in those who represent the opposite pole of the courage to be, the courage to be as oneself.”
p. 112 -
“Enthusiasm for the universe, in knowing as well as in creating, also answers the question of doubt and meaninglessness. Doubt is the necessary tool of knowledge. And meaninglessness is no threat so long as enthusiasm for the universe and for man as its center is alive.”
The Courage to Be(1952) | p. 121 -
“Faith is the state of being ultimately concerned. The content matters infinitely for the life of the believer, but it does not matter for the formal definition of faith. And this is the first step we have to make in order to understand the dynamics of faith.”
Dynamics of Faith(1957)