{{Quote
|text=Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime;<br>
therefore, we must be saved by hope.<br>
<br>
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;<br>
therefore, we must be saved by faith.<br>
<br>
Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplished alone;<br>
therefore, we must be saved by love.<br>
<br>
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint;<br>
therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.
|sign=[[Reinhold Niebuhr]]
|source=''[http://www.amazon.com/Irony-American-History-Reinhold-Niebuhr/dp/0226583988 The Irony of American History - 1952]''
}}