Howard Thurman
African-American author, philosopher, theologian, and civil rights leader, one of the most influential Black contemplatives of the twentieth century and a foundational figure in the spiritual lineage of the American civil rights movement. Born in 1899 in Daytona, Florida, the grandson of an enslaved woman, he became the first Black dean of chapel at a major American university (Boston University) and in 1944 co-founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco — one of the first intentionally interracial, intentionally interfaith congregations in the United States. His 1949 book Jesus and the Disinherited articulated a contemplative Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed; Martin Luther King Jr. is said to have carried it with him on the bus boycotts. He died in 1981 in San Francisco, leaving a body of work — Meditations of the Heart, The Inward Journey, With Head and Heart — that remains a touchstone for contemplative Black liberation theology and ecumenical mysticism.
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Quotes by Howard Thurman
104 quotes“In the face of injustice, the genuine speaks loudly.”
“The disinherited need a religion that gives them dignity.”
“Jesus was a poor Jew of an oppressed minority. He knew what it meant to be disinherited.”
“The teaching of Jesus is the technique of survival for the oppressed.”
“Fear is the hounds of hell at the heels of every disinherited person.”
“Deception is the second weapon of the powerful against the disinherited.”
“Hate is the third — and the deadliest, because it destroys the hater.”
“Love overcomes all three: fear, deception, and hate.”
“There is no last word. There is always a next word.”
“The contemplative is in the world but knows the world is not all there is.”
“Each soul has its own integrity. Honor it in others.”
“Every encounter is a sacred meeting.”
“In the deepest silence, the soul of the world speaks.”
“Pray for those you love. Pray for those you do not love.”
“To pray is to be present to God in the presence of need.”
“Each life is a gift. None are accidental.”
“In the eyes of God, no person is disposable.”
“The technique of the spirit can withstand any external force.”
“There is one ground of being, and we are all rooted in it.”
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