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((multiple issues |
((Expert needed|history|reason=the article presents internally discrepant conclusions, and at times improperly represents  sources, in particular, assigning to a Shapiro source (the wrong one) responsibility for the conclusion of the primacy of Wygal as author |date=May 2023))
((refimprove|date=May 2023))<!--See final edit of May 12, 2023.-->
((format citations|date=May 2023))
))
((Short description|Prayer authored by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr))
[[File:UNKNOWN MEDALLION - POSSIBLY AADAC or NA b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|A version of the ''Serenity prayer'' appearing on an [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] medallion (date unknown).]]
The '''Serenity Prayer''' is an [[prayer|invocation]] by the petitioner for wisdom to understand the difference between circumstances ("things") that can and cannot be changed, asking courage to take action in the case of the former, and serenity to accept in the case of the latter. 

The prayer has achieved very wide distribution, spreading through the [[YWCA]] and other groups in the 1930s, and in [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] and related organizational materials since at least 1941. Since at least the early 1960s, commercial enterprises such as [[Hallmark Cards]] have used the prayer in its greeting cards and gift items. The prayer has also made its way into popular culture, including in works by [[Bill Watterson]], [[Neil Young]], [[Bryan Lee O'Malley]] and [[Sinéad O'Connor]], and programming including ''[[True Detective]]''.

==History==
((Self-contradictory|about=roles of Niebuhr and Wygal in the origin of the prayer, and improperly represents the conclusions of the Shapiro (uscatholic.org) citation; compare, rectify, and merge this and the Early history sections |date=May 2023))
The prayer was originally composed by Protestant theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]] in the early 1930s.  Initially popularized by one of his colleagues, the prayer began to spread widely without reference to the original author. 

Around 1932, Niebuhr is reported to have first used the prayer as the last part of a longer prayer.<ref name=":0">https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/smf-129_en.pdf</ref> In an October 31, 1932 diary entry by American [[YWCA]] official ((III|Winnifred Crane Wygal|WD=Q108769640)), she quotes Niebuhr (a colleague):<blockquote>The victorious man in the day of crisis is the man who has the serenity to accept what he cannot help and the courage to change what must be altered.<ref name=":1">((Cite web |last=Shapiro |first=Fred |title=COMMENTARY: How I discovered I was wrong about the origin of the Serenity Prayer |url=https://uscatholic.org/news_item/commentary-how-i-discovered-i-was-wrong-about-the-origin-of-the-serenity-prayer/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=U.S. Catholic |language=en-US))</ref></blockquote>Drawing on this, Wygal published a prayer in the March 1933 edition of YWCA periodical ''The Woman's Press'',<ref>((Cite book |last1=Wyatt |first1=Christopher Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKwWEAAAQBAJ |title=Type Matters: The Rhetoricity of Letterforms |last2=DeVoss |first2=Dànielle Nicole |date=2017-09-01 |publisher=Parlor Press LLC |isbn=978-1-60235-978-9 |language=en))</ref> which was soon shared with a broader audience on the front page of the ''[[Santa Cruz Sentinel]]'' of March 15, 1933.<ref name=":2">((Cite web |title=Santa Cruz Sentinel 15 Mar 1933, page Page 1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/52381350/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en))</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name="Shapiro 2021 YouTube">((cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDallANsXNo |title=Yale Campus (channel): The New Yale Book of Quotations |date=August 23, 2021 |time=3:14-4:47 |access-date=May 12, 2023 |quote=<small>The Serenity Prayer (Origin is debated)... This is the famous "Serenity Prayer", and it has a very complex and rich origin story. It's usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr... I've done a lot of research on this prayer, and almost 20 years have been studying this. If you search newspaper indexes... it was used as far back as 1933. The earliest record we have of someone using it was a woman named Winifred Wygal, an official of the YWCA, wrote the Serenity Prayer, we believe... And this is actually a pattern that I found in preparing my book, that there are many famous quotes by obscure women that are attributed to famous men... and this I think is the most interesting example of that...</small> |people=Shapiro, Fred R.))</ref><ref name="Shapiro 2014" />
It read:<blockquote>Oh, God, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what can not be helped, and insight to know the one from the other.<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>The prayer was also quoted in the ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]'' later that month.<ref>((Cite web |title=Richmond Times-Dispatch 21 Mar 1933, page 2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/827825716/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en))</ref> Substantial quotes from the prayer were also printed in two Atlanta newspapers that month.<ref>((Cite web |title=The Atlanta Constitution 09 Mar 1933, page 6 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/384701390 |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en))</ref><ref>((Cite web |title=The Atlanta Journal 12 Mar 1933, page 19 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/973866438/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en))</ref> 

The prayer appeared a few additional times in American and Canadian newspapers in the 1930s, associated with the YWCA or with individual women. In 1937, the prayer was published in a Christian student newsletter, attributing it to Niebuhr.<ref name="FRS 2010">((cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=Fred R. |date=January–February 2010 |title=You Can Quote Them |url=http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2709 |journal=Yale Alumni Magazine))</ref>

Wygal published the prayer again in her 1940 book ''We Plan Our Own Worship Services'', and attributed it to Niebuhr.<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> It took this form:<blockquote>O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.<ref>((Cite book |last=Wygal |first=Winnifred |url=http://archive.org/details/MN42001ucmf_1 |title=We plan our own worship services [microform] ; business girls practice the act and the art of group worship |date=c. 1940 |location=New York, N.Y. |publisher=The Womans Press |via=Internet Archive))</ref></blockquote>The prayer became published in English language newspapers much more from 1940, but never attributed to Wygal or Neibuhr.
In June 1941, the prayer was published in an obituary in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', and from here became known by the first [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] group. The organisation embraced it and spread it widely.<ref name=":0" /> It was initially known within the group as "The AA prayer", but by the late 1940s, was known as "the serenity prayer."<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Grapevine 1950">((cite magazine |date=January 1950 |title=The Serenity Prayer... it's[''sic''] origin is traced... |url=https://www.aagrapevine.org/magazine/1950/jan/serenity-prayer |magazine=Grapevine |url-access=subscription))</ref>

Niebuhr presented it in a 1943 sermon at [[Heath Center Historic District|Heath Evangelical Union Church]] in [[Heath, Massachusetts|Heath]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="Bartletts">((cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |title=Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) |editor-last=Kaplan |editor-first=Justin |edition=17th |page=735 |encyclopedia=[[Bartlett's Familiar Quotations]]))</ref><ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> Niebuhr's wife and daughter would later say this was when they understood the prayer was first written and used.<ref>((Cite web |title=Who wrote the Serenity Prayer? |url=https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/2143-who-wrote-the-serenity-prayer |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=yalealumnimagazine.org |language=en))</ref> It then also appeared in a sermon of Niebuhr's in the 1944 ''A'' ''Book of Prayers and Services for the Armed Forces,''<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> and was printed on cards for American soldiers in WWII.<ref name="Zaleski" /><ref name="ERN" />  From January 1944, Niebuhr began being cited as the source of the prayer in newspaper articles.

Niebuhr also published it in a magazine column in 1951.<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /><ref name="Shapiro">((cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Fred R. |date=July–August 2008 |title=Who Wrote the Serenity Prayer? |work=Yale Alumni Magazine |url=http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2143 |access-date=May 12, 2023))</ref>



By this stage, the prayer had become commonly quoted as:<poem>God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 
the courage to change the things I can, 
and the wisdom to know the difference.<ref name="Shapiro 2014">((cite web|first=Fred R.|last=Shapiro|date=15 May 2014 |title=Commentary: How I discovered I was wrong about the origin of the Serenity Prayer |work=USCatholic.org |via=[[Religion News Service]] |url=https://uscatholic.org/news_item/commentary-how-i-discovered-i-was-wrong-about-the-origin-of-the-serenity-prayer/ |access-date=12 May 2023 |quote=<small>I discovered eight instances of the prayer's being printed in newspapers and books between January 1936 and April 1942 — none of which mentioned Niebuhr — I concluded that he appeared to have drawn unconsciously on earlier versions of unknown authorship. / The year after the Times story, Stephen Goranson of the Duke University Library posted a message on the American Dialect Society's Internet discussion list stating that he had found an occurrence of the Serenity Prayer in a 1937 Christian student newsletter, which referred to 'the prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.' / I quickly contacted the Times editors and alerted them that, in my view, Goranson's discovery had significantly increased the likelihood that Niebuhr was, indeed, the original author. The Times then published a second front-page story reporting my reaction to the new information. / By searching Newspapers.com, I found that the Santa Cruz Sentinel of March 15, 1933, quoted Winnifred Crane Wygal: 'Oh, 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.' / The newspaper gave as its source an article by Wygal in ''The Woman's Press'', a publication of the National Board of the YWCA. I was able to verify that article, 'On the Edge of Tomorrow,' in ''The Woman's Press'' of March 1933. The wording there was the same as in the Sentinel: It appeared as an epigraph and Reinhold Niebuhr was discussed, but no connection was made between the prayer and Niebuhr. / Although she did not link up prayer and theologian in her article, Wygal was clearly associated with Niebuhr. A biographical note about her from the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard states that Wygal did postgraduate work at Union Theological Seminary, studying there with Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. / Wygal [made] the crucial connection in her 1940 book, 'We Plan Our Own Worship Services.' On Page 25 she wrote, '"O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other." (Reinhold Niebuhr).' / That attribution by Wygal might in and of itself be viewed as the final confirmation of Niebuhr's coinage. There is an even stronger confirmation, however, located at the Schlesinger Library in its 14 volumes of Wygal's diaries, which, at my request, the library generously assigned a staff member to skim, looking for references to the Serenity Prayer. / Schlesinger's staffer, Sarah Guzy, struck gold when she read Wygal's diary entry for Oct. 31, 1932. / Wygal wrote there: 'R.N. says that "moral will plus imagination are the two elements of which faith is compounded." [and] "The victorious man in the day of crisis is the man who has the serenity to accept what he cannot help and the courage to change what must be altered."' / The second of those Niebuhr quotations does not fully match the components of the tripartite Serenity Prayer, lacking the 'wisdom' or 'insight' element, but definitely does include the elements involving 'serenity' and 'courage.' / The 1932 partial Serenity Prayer is the data point that clinches the argument for 'R.N.' (Reinhold Niebuhr) as Wygal's source for the prayer and as its originator. / ... Fred Shapiro is an associate library director and lecturer in legal research at Yale Law School and editor of 'The Yale Book of Quotations' from Yale University Press. This is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the April 28 issue of [[The Chronicle of Higher Education]].</small>))</ref></poem>In 1962, Hallmark began using the prayer in its graduation cards, crediting Niebuhr,<ref name="Shapiro" /> and in the 1970s they also produced a wall plaque.((fact|date=May 2023)) [[Poster]]s and household [[Ornament (art)|ornament]]s were produced by others without attribution.((fact|date=May 2023))

William FitzGerald believes Wygal wrote the prayer, arguing [[sexism]] as the reason for misattribution,<ref name="Fitzgerald" /> while Fred Shapiro, with greater nuance, has alternated in his conclusions, but presents both the messages that the "[o]rigin is debated" and Wygal as author in materials relating to ''The New Yale Book of Quotations'', published in 2021.<ref name="Shapiro 2021 YouTube" /><ref name="Shapiro 2014" /><ref name="New Yale Book of Q">((cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Fred R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EyA3EAAAQBAJ |title=The New Yale Book of Quotations |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=9780300205978 |location=New Haven, Conn. |page=xviii-xix, 907f |access-date=May 12, 2023))((verification needed|date=May 2023))</ref>

==Versions==
The prayer has appeared in many versions.((fact|date=May 2023)) [[Reinhold Niebuhr]]'s versions of the prayer were always printed as a single prose sentence; printings that set out the prayer as three lines of verse modify the author's original version.((fact|date=May 2023)) The best-known form is a late version,((says who|date=May 2023)) as it includes a reference to [[Divine grace|grace]] not found before 1951:((fact|date=May 2023))<!--<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> NONE OF THIS APPEARS HERE.-->

<blockquote><poem>
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.((cite quote|date=May 2023))
</poem></blockquote>

The following clauses were added in the AA ''Origin of the Serenity Prayer: A Historic Paper''<ref>((cite web |first=Nell |last=Wing |date=1981 |url=https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/smf-129_en.pdf |title=Origin of the Serenity Prayer: A Historic Paper Service Material F-129 Rev 7/30/09  |access-date=December 5, 2022 ))</ref> but were not part of the tripartite original.  Niebuhr's daughter in her book ''The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Time of Peace and War'' said: "... their message and their tone are not in any way Niebuhrian."<ref name="Sifton" />((rp|293))

<blockquote><poem>
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as He did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that He will make all things right,
If I surrender to His will,
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen.
</poem></blockquote>

A version, apparently quoted from memory and asking for the author of the quotation, appeared in the "Queries and Answers" column in ''The New York Times Book Review'' in July 1950,<ref>((cite news|author= | date=July 2, 1950 | title=Queries and Answers... | newspaper=The New York Times Book Review | volume= | issue= | page=23 | url= | access-date= | quote= ))((full|date=May 2023))</ref>((full|date=May 2023)) and received a reply in the same column in August 1950, attributing the prayer to Niebuhr, and quoting it as follows:
<blockquote><poem>O God and Heavenly Father,
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.<ref>((cite news|author= | date= August 13, 1950 | title=Queries and Answers... | newspaper=The New York Times Book Review | volume= | issue= | page=19 | url= | access-date= | quote= ))((full|date=May 2023))</ref>((full|date=May 2023))</poem></blockquote>

Some [[twelve-step program|twelve-step recovery programs]] use a slightly different version:
<blockquote><poem>God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.<ref>((cite book|last1=Littleton|first1=Jeanett Gardner|last2=Bell|first2=James Stuart|title=Living the Serenity Prayer: True Stories of Acceptance, Courage, and Wisdom|date=2008|publisher=Adams Media|location=Avon, Massachusetts|isbn=978-1-59869-116-0|page=14))</ref></poem></blockquote>

==Early history==
((Self-contradictory|about=roles of Niebuhr and Wygal in the origin of the prayer; compare, rectify, and merge this and the History section |date=May 2023))
The earliest recorded reference to the prayer is a diary entry from 1932 by ((III|Winnifred Crane Wygal|WD=Q108769640)), a pupil and collaborator of [[Reinhold Niebuhr]], quoting the prayer and attributing it to Niebuhr:<blockquote>R.N. says that ... "The victorious man in the day of crisis is the man who has the serenity to accept what he cannot help and the courage to change what must be altered."<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /></blockquote> Several versions of the prayer then appeared in newspaper articles in the early 1930s written by, or reporting on talks given by, Wygal.<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> In 1940, Wygal included the following form of the prayer in a book on worship, attributing it to Niebuhr: 
<blockquote>O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.<ref>
((cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/MN42001ucmf_1/page/n37/mode/2up|last=Wygal |first=Winnifred |title=We Plan Our Own Worship Services: Business Girls Practice the Act and the Art of Group Worship |location=New York |publisher=The Woman's Press |year=1940 |page=25 |website=Archive.org))</ref></blockquote>

Wygal was a longtime [[YWCA]] official and all early recorded usages were from women involved in volunteer or educational activities connected to the YWCA.<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /><ref name="Shapiro" />((rp|3))

An early printed reference, in 1936, mentions that during a speech, a Miss Mildred Pinkerton "quotes the prayer", as if to indicate it was already in a circulation known to the reporter, or that Pinkerton relayed it as a quote, without mentioning its authorship.((cite quote|date=May 2023)) A 1937 Christian student publication attributed the prayer to Niebuhr in the following form, which matches the other earliest published forms in requesting "courage to change" before petitioning for serenity:

<blockquote>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.((fact|date=May 2023))</blockquote>

Various other authors also cited Niebuhr as the source of the prayer onward from 1937.<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> The [[Federal Council of Churches]] (NCC) included the prayer in a book for army chaplains and servicemen in 1944, and the [[USO]] circulated the prayer (with Niebuhr's permission) to soldiers on printed cards during [[World War II]].<ref name="Zaleski">((cite book |first1=Philip |last1=Zaleski |first2=Carol |last2=Zaleski |title=Prayer: A History |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2005 |isbn=9780618152889 |page=[https://archive.org/details/prayerhistory00zale/page/127 127] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/prayerhistory00zale/page/127 ))</ref><ref name="ERN" /> In 1950, in response to questions about the already quite widely known prayer's provenance, Niebuhr wrote that the prayer "may have been spooking around for years, even centuries, but I don't think so. I honestly do believe that I wrote it myself."<ref name="Grapevine 1950" /><ref name="AAHistory">((cite web |url=http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html |title=The Origin of our Serenity Prayer |work=AAHistory.com |access-date=July 14, 2008))</ref> He confirmed this in 1967.<ref name="ERN">((cite book |title=The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses |first=Reinhold |last=Niebuhr |editor-first=Robert McAfee |editor-last=Brown |page=251 |publisher=Yale University Press |edition=New |date=September 10, 1987))</ref> His daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, thought that Niebuhr had first written it in 1943,<ref name="Sifton">((cite book |title=The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War |first=Elisabeth  |last=Sifton |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |date=2003 |isbn=978-0393057461))</ref>((rp|277)) while Niebuhr's wife Ursula believed it had been written in 1941 or 1942, adding that it may have been used in prayers as early as 1934.((fact|date=May 2023))<!--<ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> NO MENTION OF URSULA IN THIS SOURCE.-->

The Serenity Prayer was listed under Niebuhr in the ''Yale Book of Quotations'' (2006). Editor [[Fred R. Shapiro]] first raised doubts about Niebuhr's authorship in 2008,<ref name="Shapiro" /> but after further research confirmed him in 2010.<ref name="FRS 2010" />  [[William FitzGerald (academician)|William FitzGerald]] of Rutgers University-Camden argued in 2017 that credit should be given to Winnifred Wygal, a YWCA official and student of Neibuhr's at Union Theological Seminary. FitzGerald noted, "this is certainly not the first time a woman's voice has been silenced by a man's voice."<ref name="Fitzgerald">((cite web |author=William Trollinger |date=October 9, 2017 |title=Religion at the Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference |website=Righting America |url=https://rightingamerica.net/religion-at-the-feminisms-and-rhetorics-conference/)), reviewing a conference session by William FitzGerald (Rutgers University-Camden) titled "Erasure and Authority: Recovering a Feminist History of the Serenity Prayer".((primary source inline|date=May 2023))</ref>((primary source inline|date=May 2023))  Wygal is listed as the author of the Serenity Prayer in the 2021 edition of ''The New Yale Book of Quotations'';<ref name="Shapiro 2021 YouTube" /><ref name="New Yale Book of Q" /> Shapiro includes a <!--section "Anonymous Was a Woman" NOT IN THIS SOURCE.-->discussion of the origin of ''The Serenity Prayer'' in the introduction.<ref name="newyalebooknews">((cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Susan |last2=Shapiro |first2=Fred R. |date=August 18, 2021 |title=You Can Quote Us: The New Yale Book of Quotations Is On Its Way |work=News.Yale.edu |publisher=Yale University |location=New Haven, CT |url=https://news.yale.edu/2021/08/18/you-can-quote-us-new-yale-book-quotations-its-way |access-date=November 3, 2022 |quote=<small>There is also a quotation that is not new—it was in the first edition but receives an entirely revamped treatment in the second edition. It's the 'Serenity Prayer,' which is usually quoted as follows: 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.' It's a very compelling quote, and there are countless people who love it and even feel that it's saved their lives. It has generated a large number of origin stories, and, together with Professor [[William FitzGerald (academician)|William FitzGerald]] of Rutgers University [at Camden], I have researched it more thoroughly than anyone has ever researched any quote. / The Serenity Prayer is usually attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, the great theologian and political philosopher. In 2003, his daughter [Elisabeth Sifton] wrote a book called 'The Serenity Prayer' in which she describes how her father allegedly composed the prayer in 1943. Since 2003 I have been researching the origins of the prayer, ultimately discovering that its earliest findable use was actually by an obscure woman named Winnifred Wygal, a Y.W.C.A. official who was an associate of Niebuhr's, with her usage dating as far back as 1933. This new evidence is included in my second edition.</small>))</ref>

===Mistaken dating and attribution===
Though Niebuhr's daughter was once quoted suggesting that Niebuhr first wrote the prayer for the 1943 sermon at the Heath Evangelical Union Church,<ref name="Zaleski" /> there is convincing documentary evidence that he had used it much earlier.<ref name="Shapiro" /><ref name="Shapiro 2014" /> The prayer has also been falsely attributed to a variety of other authors.((fact|date=May 2023))

===Precursors===
((original research|section|date=May 2023))
<!--Absent secondary sources, this is all WP editors acting as publishing authors, presenting original work and associations.-->
Numerous statements of more or less similar sentiments by other authors have been identified.((fact|date=May 2023)) These include:((fact|date=May 2023)) 

[[Epictetus]] wrote:<blockquote><poem>Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Some things are up to us [eph' hêmin] and some things are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions&mdash;in short, whatever is our own doing. Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public offices, or, that is, whatever is not our own doing."<ref>Epictetus (1983), [[Enchiridion of Epictetus|Handbook]]. Trans. Nicholas White. Indianapolis: Hackett. Section 1.1</ref>((primary source inline|date=May 2023))</poem></blockquote>

The 8th-century [[India]]n [[Buddhist]] scholar [[Shantideva]] of the ancient [[Nalanda Mahavihara]] suggested:
<blockquote><poem>If there's a remedy when trouble strikes,
What reason is there for dejection?
And if there is no help for it,
What use is there in being glum?<ref>Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group, "The Way of the Bodhisattva", p. 130, Ch. 6, verse 10, Shambhala Publications, (October 14, 2008)</ref>((primary source inline|date=May 2023))</poem></blockquote>

The 11th-century Jewish philosopher [[Solomon ibn Gabirol]] wrote:
<blockquote>And they said: At the head of all understanding – is distinguishing between what is and what cannot be, and the consoling of what is not in our power to change.<ref>'Choice of Pearls' (Chapter 17 'Consciousness' 2nd verse)((full|date=May 2023))</ref>((full|date=May 2023))((primary source inline|date=May 2023))</blockquote>

Expressing a sentiment similar to that of Niebuhr,((fact|date=May 2023)) the philosopher [[William Warren Bartley|W.W. Bartley]] juxtaposes without comment Niebuhr's prayer with a [[Mother Goose]] rhyme (1695):
<blockquote><poem>For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.<ref>((cite book |author-link=William Warren Bartley |first=W. W. |last=Bartley |title=The Retreat to Commitment |page=35 |publisher=Open Court Publishing Company |date=April 1990 |edition=New; first 1962))</ref></poem></blockquote>

[[Friedrich Schiller]] presents what some have said((who|date=May 2023)) are sentiments similar to the first part of Niebuhr's prayer, in 1801:<blockquote><poem>Blessed is he, who has learned to bear what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity, what he cannot save."<ref>((cite book |quote=Wohl dem Menschen, wenn er gelernt hat, zu ertragen, was er nicht ändern kann, und preiszugeben mit Würde, was er nicht retten kann. |first=Friedrich |last=Schiller |title=Über das Erhabene |language=de))</ref>((primary source inline|date=May 2023))</poem></blockquote>
<!--It is likely that more will be found.((editorializing inline|date=May 2023))-->

===Spurious attributions===
The prayer has been variously attributed (without evidence) to [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Cicero]], [[Augustine]], [[Boethius]], [[Marcus Aurelius]],<ref>((cite book |first1=Philip |last1=Zaleski |first2=Carol |last2=Zaleski |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDHsE_Efy0EC |title=Prayer: A History |pages=126–127 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |year=2006|isbn=0618773606 ))</ref> and [[Francis of Assisi]],<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.almapress.unibo.it/dubcek/intro/intro.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040913100104/http://www.almapress.unibo.it/dubcek/intro/intro.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2004-09-13 |title=Alexander Dubcek – Introduzione |website=Almapress.unibo.it |language=it |access-date=2013-03-14 ))</ref>((better source needed |date=January 2016)) among others.((fact|date=May 2023))

[[:de:Theodor Wilhelm|Theodor Wilhelm]], a professor of education at the [[University of Kiel]], published a German version of the prayer under the pseudonym "Friedrich Oetinger" in 1951.<ref>((cite book|first=Friedrich |last=Oetinger |title=Wendepunkt der poltitischen Erziehung |year=1951 |url=http://www.substanceabusecounselor.us/addiction/the-full-serenity-prayer-its-meaning/ |chapter=The Full Serenity Prayer & Its Meaning |via=SubstanceAbuseCounselor.us))</ref> Wilhelm's version of the prayer became popular in [[West Germany]], where it was widely but falsely attributed to the 18th-century philosopher [[Friedrich Christoph Oetinger]]. Elisabeth Sifton described Wilhelm's account of the history of the prayer as "dishonest".<ref name="Sifton" />((rp|343))

==Use by twelve-step recovery programs==
The prayer became more widely known after being brought to the attention of [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] in 1941 by an early member,<ref>"Stalking the Wild Serenity Prayer", Appendix B in: ((cite book |last=Wing |first=Nell |title=Grateful to Have Been There: My 42 Years with Bill and Lois, and the Evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781568380643/page/167 167-187] |publisher=Hazelden |isbn=1-56838-064-X |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781568380643/ ))</ref> who came upon it in a caption in a "routine ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' obituary".<ref name="Box 459 1992">((Cite journal|date=August–September 1992|title=The Elusive Origins of the Serenity Prayer|journal=Box 459|volume=38|issue=4))</ref>  The original clipping appeared in the May 28, 1941, public notices section:  "Mother--God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.  Goodby."<ref>((cite web |url=https://www.district48aa.org/archives.html  |title=Archives - Serenity Clipping  |publisher=District 48 Greater Williamsport Area Alcoholics Anonymous |access-date=October 25, 2022))</ref>   AA's co-founder [[Bill W.]] and the staff liked the prayer and had it printed in modified form and handed around. It has been part of Alcoholics Anonymous ever since, and has also been used in other [[twelve-step program]]s. "Never had we seen so much A.A. in so few words," noted Bill W.<ref>((cite book |author=Bill W. |title=Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age : A Brief History of A. A. |page=[https://archive.org/details/alcoholicsanohist00newy/page/196/mode/2up 196] |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc |date=June 1957 |isbn=9780916856021 ))</ref> The January 1950 edition of the ''Grapevine'' (''The International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous'') identifies Niebuhr as the author,<ref name="Grapevine 1950" /> as does the AA web site.<ref name="AAHistory" />

==Adaptations by other authors==
In [[Bill Watterson]]'s comic strip ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', Calvin says:

<blockquote>Know what I pray for?  The strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can't, and the incapacity to tell the difference.<ref>((Cite web|last=Watterson|first=Bill|date=1992-08-28|title=Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 28, 1992 |url=https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/08/28|access-date=2021-10-09|website=GoComics|language=en))</ref></blockquote>In [[Kurt Vonnegut|Kurt Vonnegut's]] ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'', the Serenity Prayer appears in Chapter 3: it is displayed in Billy Pilgrim's optometry office; and though it reassures Pilgrim's patients, the Serenity Prayer underscores the irony of Pilgrim's fatalism.

A 1978 newspaper cartoon turned the phrase on its head: "If I'm not home accepting what I can't change, I'm probably out changing what I can't accept";<ref>((Cite web |last=Popik |first=Barry |title=Barry Popik |url=https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/im_no_longer_accepting |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=barrypopik.com |language=en))</ref> and a variant has become a popular slogan: "I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm changing the things I cannot accept". This form is often, but incorrectly, attributed to the American activist [[Angela Davis]].<ref>((Cite web |last=McConnell |first=Andrew |date=July 9, 2020 |title=Accept The Things You Cannot Change, Or Change The Things You Cannot Accept? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/07/09/accept-the-things-you-cannot-change-or-change-the-things-you-cannot-accept/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Forbes |language=en))</ref>

[[Neil Young]] cites a Latin translation of the Serenity Prayer on the back cover of his 1981 album [[Re·ac·tor|Re•ac•tor]].<ref>((cite web |title=Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Reactor |website=Discogs |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10035637-Neil-Young-Crazy-Horse-Reactor |access-date=2023-04-19 |language=en))</ref>

[[Sinéad O'Connor]] cites the prayer in the intro of the song "Feel So Different", from her 1990 album [[I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got]].<ref>((Citation |title=Sinéad O'Connor – Feels So Different |url=https://genius.com/Sinead-oconnor-feels-so-different-lyrics |access-date=2023-08-05))</ref> 

The prayer features in season 3 of [[True Detective]].<ref>((cite news |title=True Detective Season 3 Episode 6 'Hunters in the Dark' Watchthrough |url=https://www.polygon.com/tv/2019/2/13/18223503/true-detective-season-3-episode-6-hoyt-theories-harris-james-pink-castle |agency=Polygon))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist|30em))

==External links==

((Wikiquote))
((Portal|Poetry|Christianity|Religion))
* [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300040012/essential-reinhold-niebuhr ''The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses''], editor: Robert McAfee Brown 
* "Transcending and Transforming the World", in ((cite book |last=Niebuhr |first=Reinhold |title=Does Civilization Need Religion? A Study in the Social Resources and Limitations of Religion in Modern Life |year=1927|url=https://archive.org/details/MN40125ucmf_6)), especially pages 179–81.
*  Elisabeth Sifton, ''[https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Serenity-Prayer The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War]'', New York, Norton, 2003 . ((isbn|978-0393057461))  Elizabeth Sifton was Reinhold Niebuhr's daughter.
**[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4284976 The Serenity Prayer: Faith in Times of Peace and War], National Public Radio - [[Fresh Air]] interview with Elisabeth Sifton (20 mins) January 14, 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060503064333/http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/referate/theologie/oetgeb00.html Full documentation (in German) of false claims of authorship]
* [http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html The origin of our Serenity Prayer], at Alcoholics Anonymous
* Nell Wing (1981).  [https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/smf-129_en.pdf Origin of the Serenity Prayer: A Historic Paper] 12 pp from AA General Service Office [https://www.aa.org/origin-serenity-prayer-historical-paper Service Material F-129] Rev 7/30/09  Accessed 10/20/22.   (Secretary to [[Bill W.]], First [[Alcoholics Anonymous|AA]] Archivist, 1954-1983)
*[https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/12/24/serenity/ Serenity Prayer] - [[Quote Investigator]] December 24, 2019

((Reinhold Niebuhr))
((Alcoholics Anonymous))

[[Category:Alcoholics Anonymous]]
[[Category:Prayer]]
[[Category:Twelve-step programs]]
[[Category:Works by Reinhold Niebuhr]]

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