“Being-itself is essentially productive.”

—  Paul Tillich, book The Courage to Be

Source: The Courage to Be (1952), pp. 108-109
Context: What is the end of all the magnificent means provided by the productive activity of American society? Have not the means swallowed the ends, and does not the unrestricted production of means indicate the absence of ends? Even many born Americans are today inclined to answer the last question affirmatively. But there is more involved in the production of means. It is not the tools and gadgets that are the telos, the inner aim of production; it is the production itself. The means are more than means; they are felt as creations, as symbols of the infinite possibilities implied in man’s productivity. Being-itself is essentially productive.

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Paul Tillich photo
Paul Tillich61
German-American theologian and philosopher 1886–1965

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