“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept”
The Serenity Prayer is: “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.”
“If I’m not home accepting what I can’t change, I’m probably out changing what I can’t accept” was posted in newspapers on October 18, 1978, in the “Pot-Shots” syndicated feature by cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant.
“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept” is a saying that has been printed on many images. “Is No Longer Accepting the things I can not Change! I Am Changing the Things I can not Accept!” was posted on Twitter by John Tafaro on May 31, 2010. “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change! I am changing the things I cannot accept!” was posted on Twitter by Amanda Blake on November 1, 2010. “I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept. #LiveFreeorDie” was posted on Twitter by William Munny on August 14, 2012.
This version of the saying probably originated on an image. This image (featuring a Native American) by Idle No More possibly dates to November 2012.
“‘I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept’ - Angela Davis” was posted on Twitter by NativeSon on March 6, 2013. “‘I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept. ’ Angela Davis” was posed on Twitter b Baby D O L L on April 2, 2014. American political activist, philosopher, academic, Marxist feminist, and author Angela Davis did not originate or popularize the saying.
Wikipedia: Serenity Prayer
The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). It is commonly quoted as:
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.
Wikipedia: Ashleigh Brilliant
Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant (born 9 December 1933) is an author and syndicated cartoonist born in London, UK, and living in Santa Barbara, California. He is best known for his Pot-Shots, single-panel illustrations with one-line humorous remarks, which began syndication in the United States of America in 1975. Brilliant became a naturalized American citizen in 1969.
Wikipedia: Angela Davis
Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, Marxist feminist, and author. She is a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Davis was a longtime member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and is a founding member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). She is the author of over ten books on class, feminism, and the U.S. prison system.
Newspapers.com
18 October 1978, Detroit (MI) Free Press, “Pot-Shots” by Ashleigh Brilliant, pg. 19B, col. 1:
IF I’M NOT HOME
ACCEPTING WHAT I CAN’T CHANGE,
I’M PROBABLY OUT
CHANGING WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT.
18 October 1978, Seattle (WA) Times, “Pot-Shots” by Ashleigh Brilliant, pg. G4, col. 3:
IF I’M NOT HOME
ACCEPTING WHAT I CAN’T CHANGE,
I’M PROBABLY OUT
CHANGING WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT.
Newspapers.com
20 October 1985, Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette, “Women told to rally for feminization of power” by Bonnie Stowers, pg. C18, col. 6:
The message on a greeting card sent to a friend of hers by the friend’s daughter represents this “feminization,” said (Sarah—ed.) Harder.
“The message said, ‘if you do not find me at home accepting the things I cannot change, I’m probably out changing the things I cannot accept.’”
Google Groups: alt.callahans
Life in Cosmo
Jane Beckman x2637
1/3/90
(...)
“If I’m not home accepting what I cannot change, I’m out changing what I can’t accept.” —-Ashleigh Brilliant
Google Groups: alt.callahans
celibacy (was Re: apology to alaric)
The Renaissance Man
4/25/96
(...)
To quote Ashleigh Brilliant, ‘If I’m not here at home accepting the things I cannot change, I’m probably out changing the things I cannot accept.’”
Twitter
Tom Morris
@TomVMorris
Idea for door sign: “If I’m not home accepting what I can’t change, I’m out changing what I can’t accept.” - Ashleigh Brilliant (4 real)
1:27 PM · Feb 24, 2009·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Eliza Carroll
@Deva_10
“IF I’M NOT HOME, ACCEPTING WHAT I CAN’T CHANGE, I’M PROBABLY OUT, CHANGING WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT.”~Ashleigh Brilliant
2:33 PM · Jan 18, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
John Tafaro
@johnmix
Is No Longer Accepting the things I can not Change! I Am Changing the Things I can not Accept!
6:02 AM · May 31, 2010·Status Shuffle
Twitter
Andrea
@Andie_76
Is No Longer Accepting the things I can not Change! I Am Changing the Things I can not Accept!
8:17 PM · Aug 23, 2010·Status Shuffle
Twitter
Amanda Blake
@Monecita86
I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change! I am changing the things I cannot accept!
10:05 AM · Nov 1, 2010·Status Shuffle
Twitter
William Munny
@tyrnykillr
I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept. #LiveFreeorDie
9:31 PM · Aug 14, 2012·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Rita Tortorello
@RitaTortorello
I am no longer accepting the things I can not change, I an changing the things I cannot accept.—unknown
6:25 PM · Sep 4, 2012·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
NativeSon
@adamec87
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept” - Angela Davis
1:17 PM · Mar 6, 2013·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Nathaniel Gilchrist
@Ngilchrist67
“I am no longer accepting the things I can not change.I am changing the things I cannot accept.”.... Angela Davis
12:11 PM · Mar 10, 2013·Twitter for iPhone
Newspapers.com
10 April 2013, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, “Richards, Warren: Rivals on the same team” by Brian Sharp, pg. 6A, col. 6:
Last week, (City Council President Lovely—ed.) Warren tweeted: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Google Groups: Community Supported Fisheries
CSF questions for a magazine
niaz
9/30/13
(...)
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept.” From an Idle No More poster
Facebook
Darshan K Bhambiru
December 30, 2013 · Buffer ·
I am no Longer Accepting, the Things I Cannot Change,
I am Changing the Things, I Cannot Accept.
I made a Choice, to take a Chance and make a Change.
Twitter
Baby D O L L
@theREALChrissyE
“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept. ” - Angela Davis
10:57 AM · Apr 2, 2014·Echofon
Bklyner.
How an Angela Davis Quote Wound Up at the Barclays Center Subway Entrance
Credit an anonymous partner of the arena operator, which—surprise—controls that commercial space.
NORMAN ODER
JULY 8, 2020 @1:13 PM
(...)
Sometime within the next twelve days, that plaza entrance offered a non-marketing message in stark black-and-white: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I can no longer accept,” attributed to “Angela Davis, American Political Activist, Educator, and Author.”
The banner has no corporate or institutional credit, just the hashtag #BLACKLIVESMATTER. It’s gotten little notice on social media–here’s one Twitter salute from June 19, keyed to #Juneteenth, though it is unclear when the banner went up.
NetsDaily
Who’s ‘anonymous partner’ behind Angela Davis quote at Barclays subway entrance?
By Net Income Jul 9, 2020, 7:35pm EDT
Sometime between June 7, when Barclays Center replaced advertising inside the oculus with a Martin Luther King quote, and June 19, Juneteenth, another ad went down above the arena subway entrance opposite the oculus. This time, the message displayed on a large banner was a quote from Angela Davis, the California-based and often controversial political activist and writer.
As Norman Oder reports in The Bklyner, the quote reads, in black-and-white lettering, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I can no longer accept,”
ATLANTIC YARDS/PACIFIC PARK REPORT
Is the quote posted at the Barclays Center transit entrance really from Angela Davis? (It’s common, but not sourced.)
July 20, 2020
(...)
I had seen the quote on this University of California Berkeley page, 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice, excerpted at right, and thus didn’t have suspicions.
(...)
However, as shown in the screenshot at left, the gift shop of New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture—“one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences”—offers an Angela Davis magnet with that quote.