Quotes from William Sloane Coffin

In our time all it takes for evil to flourish is for a few good men to be a little wrong and have a great deal of power, and for the vast majority of their fellow citizens to remain indifferent.

Love measures our stature: the more we love, the bigger we are. There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself.

The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love. We can never really love anybody with whom we never laugh. Love is in the giver, not the gift.

We are not loved because we are valued; we are valued because we are loved.

For Christians, the problem is not how to reconcile homosexuality with scriptural passages that condemn it, but how to reconcile the rejection and punishment of homosexuals with the love of Christ.

Love measures our stature: the more we love, the bigger we are.

The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.

For finally, we are as we love. It is love that measures our stature.

Without love, violence will change the world; it will change it into a more violent one.

What is faith? Faith is being grasped by the power of love.

If your heart is full of fear, you won't seek truth; you'll seek security. If a heart is full of love, it will have a limbering effect on the mind.

I asked an 85 year old professor, 'What makes you cry?' He said, 'Whenever I see or hear the truth.'

Truth is always in danger of being sacrificed on the altars of good taste and social stability.

Love is in the giver, not the gift.

I'm delighted that the future is unsure. That's the way it should be.

When a man is drowning, it may be better for him to try to swim than to thrash around waiting for divine intervention.

We call on all members of America's religious communities, as a testament of our common faith, to join Faithful Security, and to take action immediately to break faith with nuclear weapons.

People who fear disorder more than injustice will only produce more of both.