Not Francis of Assisi. This is the familiar Serenity Prayer, generally credited to Reinhold Niebuhr; Winnifred Wygal's early records are central to its history, and the wording evolved.
“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” — Serenity Prayer, generally credited to Reinhold Niebuhr; familiar later wording, not Francis of Assisi.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Francis of Assisi. Use the credit shown above instead.
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? We couldn’t establish where this was first published, so there’s no rights status to give. Credit it as shown above — just don’t present it as public domain, and get permission for commercial or published reuse.
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Evoking the world of Reinhold Niebuhr — Theologian. Theme: "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". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
The source
Work
Serenity Prayer
Early documentation
Wygal diary, 1932; tripartite published prayer, 1933, as traced by Quote Investigator
Wording
Familiar later form; exact first printing not established
God grant me the serenity … and the wisdom to know the difference.
Quote Investigator ↗ traces Wygal's diary and publications and favors Niebuhr's authorship.
Wikiquote ↗ prints the familiar wording under Niebuhr.
The version history ↗ records scholarly differences over Wygal's contribution; no medieval origin is supported.
This is a twentieth-century prayer in an evolving wording. Without an identified first publication of the exact form, no public-domain clearance is asserted.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Often misattributed
Francis's name is not supported: the documented trail ↗ concerns a modern prayer associated with Niebuhr and Wygal.
✕
Incorrectly attributed to Francis of Assisi Unsupported attribution
Francis's name is not supported: the documented trail ↗ concerns a modern prayer associated with Niebuhr and Wygal.
✓Not Francis of Assisi. This is the familiar Serenity Prayer, generally credited to Reinhold Niebuhr; Winnifred Wygal's early records are central to its history, and the wording evolved.
Context
Why it mattered
The prayer reached readers through changing versions, rather than one fixed formula. Quote Investigator ↗ documents Wygal's early records and her credit to Niebuhr, which is a modern transmission history rather than evidence of a medieval Francis text.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Reinhold Niebuhr was an American Protestant theologian. The Serenity Prayer is closely associated with him, although its circulation and wording also owe much to Winnifred Wygal.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
The primary source (Chicago)
Serenity Prayer, generally credited to Reinhold Niebuhr. Early records and variants traced in Quote Investigator, “Serenity Prayer,” December 24, 2019. Exact first publication of displayed wording unconfirmed.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘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’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/god-grant-me-the-serenity-to-accept-the-things-i-cannot/