45 Best Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes On Faith, Grace, & Community

Check out the best Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes that reflect courage, faith, and moral clarity in the face of oppression.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian, pastor, and anti-Nazi dissident, best known for his resistance to Adolf Hitler’s regime and his profound commitment to Christian ethics.

Born in 1906 in Breslau, Germany, Bonhoeffer became a central figure in the Confessing Church, a movement that defied the Nazis’ attempts to control Christianity in Germany.

His writings on discipleship, grace, and moral responsibility, including his famous works The Cost of Discipleship and Letters and Papers from Prison, continue to inspire readers to stand firm in their beliefs, act against injustice, and live with purpose.

Through his works, Bonhoeffer boldly challenged tyranny and injustice at great personal risk. He believed that true faith required action, even if it meant risking one’s life.

He was eventually arrested and executed in 1945 for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Hitler, just weeks before the end of World War II.

Whether discussing faith, ethics, or the cost of discipleship, his words remain as powerful today as they were during his lifetime.

Here are the most famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes that inspire you to live with conviction, faith, and a commitment to justice.

Top 10 Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

1. “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

2. “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

3. “Comfort the troubled, and trouble the comfortable.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

4. “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

5. “One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

6. “May we be enabled to say ‘No’ to sin and ‘Yes’ to the sinner.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
7. “There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

8. “Your life as a Christian should make non believers question their disbelief in God.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

9. “The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   

10. “The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to be always afraid of making a mistake.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    

Best Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

1. “Death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2. “Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
3. “Against stupidity we are defenseless.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers
4. “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. “It is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
6. “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
7. “The devil doesn’t fill us with hatred for God, but with forgetfulness of God.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
8. “May God in His mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may He lead us to Himself.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9. “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
10. “God’s truth judges created things out of love, and Satan’s truth judges them out of envy and hatred.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
11. “Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
12. “Being a Christan is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.” —  Dietrich Bonhoeffer
13. “Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
14. “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
15. “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Quotes By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1. “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2. “To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
3. “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
4. “The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. “Time is the most valuable thing that we have, because it is the most irrevocable.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters, and Papers from Prison
6. “The deceit, the lie of the Devil consists of this, that he wishes to make man believe that he can live without God’s Word.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
7. “Every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
8. “Seek God, not happiness – this is the fundamental rule of all meditation. If you seek God alone, you will gain happiness: that is its promise.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9. “The person who’s in love with their vision of community will destroy community. But the person who loves the people around them will create community everywhere they go.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
10. “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others… not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Famous Quotes from “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1. “God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
2. “We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
3. “I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
4. “Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
5. “In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
6. “The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
7. “If my sinfulness appears to me in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer , Life Together
8. “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
9. “The fact that we do not speak it but sing it only expresses the fact that our spoken words are inadequate to express what we want to say, that the burden of our song goes far beyond all human words.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
10. “Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Conclusion

These powerful quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer continue to inspire faith, courage, and moral conviction even today. Which quote resonated with you the most? Let us know in the comments!

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