Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems. - Reinhold Niebuhr

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by that final form of love, which is forgiveness.

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

The preservation of a democratic civilization requires the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove.