Q0489

Paul Tillich

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of nonbeing.
Thinker Paul Tillich
School Existential Theology
Source The Courage to Be
Theme Courage
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with The Courage to Be, within the tradition of Existential Theology. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of courage, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Paul Tillich's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Paul Tillich. (n.d.). Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of nonbeing. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0489

MLA: Paul Tillich. “Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0489.

Chicago: Paul Tillich. “Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0489.

Same thinker

More from Paul Tillich

  1. The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself as accepted in spite of being unacceptable.

All quotations by Paul Tillich

Same theme

More on courage

  1. It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.
  2. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  3. He who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.
  4. Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own understanding!
  5. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

Browse the courage theme