William Sloane Coffin

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain."

"Success is not measured by wealth but by the impact you have on others."

"We must listen to the voice of conscience."

"Gratitude is the greatest of all virtues."

"The future belongs to those who believe in it."

"The church should not be the master of the state, nor the servant of the state, but the conscience of the state."

"Don't inhale the stale air of the past, but don't ignore it either—learn from it."

"A person who won't lift a finger to save their own life is hardly worth saving."

"The great enemy of clarity is bullshit, not just in politics but in all of life."

"I am convinced that the majority, wherever found, has always been wrong on the vital questions of the day."

"Like a fire, religion can warm or burn, depending on how it's used."

"We are not called to save the world—we are called to love it."

"Despair is a cop-out; it relieves us of moral responsibility."

"Love your enemies; it will surely drive them crazy."

"The nuclear arms race is like two people standing waist-deep in gasoline, each with a box of matches."

"To be a Christian means to be counter-cultural in the deepest sense."

"Our task is not to fix blame but to fix the problem."

"Peace requires imagination and the courage to imagine differently."

"The problem with patriotism is that it asks us to stop thinking."

"We are called not to comfort the afflicted, but to afflict the comfortable."

"Fear is the mind-killer; it prevents us from becoming who we are meant to be."

"The greatest sedative is not comfort but hope."

"To choose your own path is the hardest thing a human being can do."

"Violence is the language of the powerless who have given up on justice."

"Art is the response to the demand for entertainment, for the stimulation of our senses and imagination."

"Education should produce citizens, not just workers."

"Time is not money; time is life itself."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas at once."

"Forgiveness is not about condoning; it's about releasing ourselves from the past."

"We must be willing to fail; failure is the price of progress."