About Paul Tillich

Paul Johannes Tillichwas a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, Christian socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. Tillich taught at German universities before immigrating to the United States in 1933, where he taught at Union Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago.

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More quotes from Paul Tillich

The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

There is no love which does not become help.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Astonishment is the root of philosophy.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

The first duty of love is to listen.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Cruelty towards others is always also cruelty towards ourselves.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Faith is an act of a finite being who is grasped by, and turned to, the infinite.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains the answer to the question of a meaning of our life.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Man’s ultimate concern must be expressed symbolically, because symbolic language alone is able to express the ultimate.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

If my tongue were trained to measures, I would sing a stirring song.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Language… has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

I hope for the day when everyone can speak again of God without embarrassment.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Boredom is rage spread thin.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Neurosis is the way of avoiding non-being by avoiding being.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher

Faith is the state of being ultimately concerned.

Paul Tillich

German-American theologian and philosopher