Os Guinness Quotes
Born: September 30, 1941
Os Guinness, a preeminent social critic and Christian apologist, dedicates his life to the vital intersection of conviction and action. Born from a lineage of brewing fame, Guinness forged his own path as a powerful voice for principled living in a skeptical age. His philosophy insists that authentic motivation is not mere optimism but a courageous response to truth. As a co-founder of the Trinity Forum, his work dismantles the paralysis of cynicism, calling individuals to a lifelong pursuit of calling and character. His quotes resonate because they cut through noise to the core of human purpose, challenging us to rise from passive belief to transformative deeds.
Os Guinness Quotes (15)
"I give lectures on globalization. I have lived on three continents. I have no quarrel with a global consciousness."
— Os Guinness"Like a precious family heirloom, freedom is not just ours to enjoy, but to treasure, protect, and pass on to future generations."
— Os Guinness"Negative freedom is freedom from - freedom from oppression, whether it's a colonial power or addiction to alcohol oppressing you. You need to be freed from negative freedom. Positive freedom is freedom for, freedom to be. And that's what's routinely ignored today."
— Os Guinness"There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives."
— Os Guinness"The rewards of freedom are always sweet, but its demands are stern, for at its heart is the paradox that the greatest enemy of freedom is freedom."
— Os Guinness"The story of Christian reformation, revival, and renaissance underscores that the darkest hour is often just before the dawn, so we should always be people of hope and prayer, not gloom and defeatism. God the Holy Spirit can turn the situation around in five minutes."
— Os Guinness"Jesus made clear that the Kingdom of God is organic and not organizational. It grows like a seed and it works like leaven: secretly, invisibly, surprisingly, and irresistibly."
— Os Guinness"I'm obviously not an advocate of Christian America or a simplistic view of America as 'a city on a hill.'"
— Os Guinness"Beyond any question, the way the American founders consistently linked faith and freedom, republicanism and religion, was not only deliberate and thoughtful, it was also surprising and anything but routine."
— Os Guinness"As I understand the American Founders, the most brilliant and daring idea they had was that it's possible to create a free society that could stay free forever."
— Os Guinness"One of the key places where sociology should be used is in analyzing 'the world' of our times, so that we can be more discerning. To resist the dangers of the world, you have to recognize the distortions and seductions of the world."
— Os Guinness"The Christian church in the U.S. is still strong numerically, but it has lost its decisive influence both in American public life and in American culture as a whole, especially in the major elite institutions of society."
— Os Guinness"I have lived under totalitarian Communism, so I prize freedom as much as anyone and have long fought for freedom of conscience and speech."
— Os Guinness"The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'pluribus,' and the days of the Republic will be numbered."
— Os Guinness"American democracy in the past has always been known for its large middle class and its relatively few very wealthy people and very few very poor people, but that is gone to today and the middle class is shrinking."
— Os Guinness