1938 (?) attribution of Courage/Serenity prayer to R. Niebuhr

[Shapiro, Fred]

I found this 1938 occurrence a couple of months ago, and verified it in the print.  As I recall, the attribution to Niebuhr appeared more than once in the Friends' Intelligencer in 1938.  This seems to add a bit of further strengthening to the probability of the Niebuhrian origination of the Serenity Prayer.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Stephen Goranson [goranson at DUKE.EDU]
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 8:27 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: 1938 (?) attribution of Courage/Serenity prayer to R. Niebuhr

As you may recall I previously found a 1937* text of the prayer (also with courage before serenity,
as in the majority of earliest versions) stating it was attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.  Fred Shapiro found a
1936 version,** without attribution; I found a 1934 use, without attribution, as a quote, of "the
serenity to accept what cannot be helped."

Now a Google Book snippet (unconfirmed on paper; ILL request sent, but anyone else is free to
check), a version (with slight variants) attributed to R.N., and potentially dated 1938:

Friends' intelligencer: Volume 95, Issues 27-53  page 473
1938 - Snippet view ***
STATE COLLEGE Friends Intelligencer *A Quaker Message GOD, give me courage to change what can be altered; serenity to endure what cannot be changed; and insight to discern the one from the other. — Reinhold Niebuhr. ...:

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

* Is it inspired by the prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr : "Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other." Reprinted from "News and  and Views" (Published by the Pacific Southwest Field
Council)  [the latter not yet found]

** Quotes the prayer—"O God, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and insight to know the one from the other."

*** http://books.google.com/books?id=yfLzAAAAMAAJ&q=serenity+courage+%22reinhold+niebuhr%22&dq=serenity+courage+%22reinhold+niebuhr%22&hl=en&ei=k-iATKStGcSqlAe0-7SCDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ

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