[Oe List ...] Bonhoeffer quote, diffferent translation+

[Marianna Bailey]

 This quote could well be on Obama's meditative council as he deals with Congress. I'm currently reading "The Audacity of Hope" which has given me an insight into his decision making.

Marianna
On Dec 10, 2010, at 12:42 PM, John Cock wrote:

> Thanks, Terry and Jim. Another translation with a few lines before and after:
> 
> To talk about going down fighting like heroes in face of certain defeat is not really heroic at all, but a failure to face up to the future. The ultimate question the man of responsibility asks is not, How how can I extricate myself heroically from the affair? but, How is the coming generation to live? It is only in this way that fruitful solutions can arise, even if for the time being they are humiliating. In short, it is easier by far to act on abstract principle than from concrete responsibility. The rising generation will always instinctively discern which of the two we are acting upon. For it is their future which is at stake.
> 
> ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "After Ten Years" (December 1942),  Letters and Papers from Prison, pp. 21-22 (Fuller, tr., Bethge, ed.)
> 
> The reason we listen to his ethics is he authenticated what he said.
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Terry Bergdall 
> Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 10:04 AM 
> To: Colleague Dialogue 
> Cc: Order Ecumenical Community 
> Subject: [Dialogue] Bonhoeffer quote
> 
> The correct version (except for the outdated exclusive language) is better than my memory:
> 
> "The ultimate question for a responsible man to ask, is not how to extricate himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to live."
> 
> A Google search revealed this to have been quoted in M. Bosanquet, The Life and Death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (New York: Harper, 1962), p. 221.
> 
> 
> On 10 Dec 2010, at 08:41, Terry Bergdall wrote:
> 
> > On 10 Dec 2010, at 07:34, James Wiegel wrote: 
> >> I like George's quote, isn't there a similar one by Bonhoeffer?  something about the challenge is not how to survive, but how the future generations will live . . .
> 
> > 
> > I am not sure about its source nor its exact phrasing (though I think this is close), but here is something I recall: 
> > 
> > "The question the man of responsibility asks is not 'how can we extricate ourselves from the current situation' but rather 'how is the coming generation to live?'"
> 
> > 
> > Since I've remembered it for over 40 years, it obviously made a big impression on me. 
> > 
> > Terry
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Dialogue mailing list 
> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net 
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net
> 
> _______________________________________________
> OE mailing list
> OE at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20101210/48a5ad03/attachment.html>