Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer, OMwas a French-German theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician. He was born in the province of Alsace-Lorraine and although that region had been annexed by the German Empire four years earlier, and remained a German possession until 1918, he considered himself French and wrote mostly in French...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionDoctor
Date of Birth14 January 1875
CityKaysersberg, France
CountryGermany
organization government conscience
We cannot abdicate our conscience to an organization, nor to a government.
men united
We are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone.
gone world helping
The greatest living person in the world is some individual who at this very moment has gone in love to help another.
guidance difficult difficult-things
The most difficult thing I have ever had to do is follow the guidance I prayed for.
achievement reverence-for-life direct
Reverence for life, veneratio vitæ, is the most direct and at the same time the profoundest achievement of my will-to-live.
mind institutions function
Only when an ideal of peace is born in the minds of the peoples will the institutions set up to maintain this peace effectively fulfill the function expected of them.
animal sacred plant
Don't stop to ask whether the animal or plant you meet deserves your sympathy, or how much it feels, or even whether it can feel at all: respect it and consider all life sacred.
spiritual thinking self
Rational thinking which is free from assumptions ends therefore in mysticism. To relate oneself in the spirit of reverence for life to the multiform manifestations of the will-to-live which together constitute the world is ethical mysticism. All profound world-view is mysticism, the essence of which is just this: that out of my unsophisticated and naïve existence in the world there comes, as a result of thought about self and the world, spiritual self-devotion to the mysterious infinite Will which is continuously manifested in the universe.
volunteer parent support
It is not enough to merely exist. It's not enough to say, 'I'm earning enough to live and support my family. I do my work well. I'm a good parent.' That's all very well. But you must do something more.
men thinking matter
The thinking man must oppose all cruelties no matter how deeply rooted in tradition or surrounded by a halo.
outcomes should sincerely
For those who sincerely seek the truth should not fear the outcome.
mean world affirmation
Affirmation of the world, which means affirmation of the will-to-live that manifests itself around me, is only possible if I devote myself to other life.
views understanding world
Awakening of Western thought will not be complete until that thought steps outside itself and comes to an understanding with the search for a world-view as this manifests itself in the thought of mankind as a whole.
horse pain animal
I used to suffer particularly because the poor animals must endure so much pain and want. The sight of an old, limping horse being dragged along by one man while another man struck him with a stick he was being driven to the Colmar slaughterhouse - haunted me for weeks.