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 TillichRead
Every institution is inherently demonic.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that institutions may possess negative or corrupting qualities by their very nature.
Paul Tillich's assertion that 'every institution is inherently demonic' invites us to consider the dark aspects of organized structures and systems within society. He implies that institutions, while necessary for order and function, can often lead to dehumanization, moral decay, and the pursuit of power over ethical considerations. This viewpoint challenges individuals to remain vigilant about the nature of institutions they engage with and to question the moral implications of their influence on human behavior.
Themes
InstitutionDemonicPowerCorruptionMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about corporate ethics, this quote could be used to highlight the potential for corruption within large institutions.
More from Paul Tillich
All quotes →Cruelty towards others is always also cruelty towards ourselves.
Paul TillichRead
He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being.
Paul TillichRead
The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.
Paul TillichRead
The citizens of a city are not guilty of the crimes committed in their city; but they are guilty as participants in the destiny of [humanity] as a whole and in the destiny of their city in particular; for their acts in which freedom was united with destiny have contributed to the destiny in which they participate. They are guilty, not of committing the crimes of which their group is accused, but of contributing to the destiny in which these crimes happened.
Paul TillichRead
Wine is like the incarnation--it is both divine and human
Paul TillichRead
Similar quotes
Everything we do really is just a little marker on the long road to death. And sometimes that’s overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes it makes me feel kinship and forgiveness. We’ve all got the same ending to the story. The way we make that story more elaborate, I got to respect.
Joss WhedonRead
A minority is only thought of as a minority when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority, real or imaginary. And no threat is ever quite imaginary.
Christopher IsherwoodRead
How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms
AristotleRead
All those who try to unveil the mysteries always have tragic lives. At the end they are always punished.
Anais NinRead
From what may anyone be saved? Only from themselves! That is, their individual hell. They dig it with their own desires.
Edgar CayceRead
The fact that a cloud from a minor volcanic eruption in Iceland—a small disturbance in the complex mechanism of life on the Earth—can bring to a standstill the aerial traffic over an entire continent is a reminder of how, with all its power to transform nature, humankind remains just another species on the planet Earth.
Slavoj IekRead