Albert Schweitzer Quotes

The quiet conscience is the invention of the devil. No one of us may permit any preventable pain to be inflicted even though the responsibility for that pain is not ours. No one may shut his eyes and think that the pain which is therefore not visible, is non-existent. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Our degeneration, when it is traced back to its origin in our view of the world really consists in the fact that true optimism has vanished unperceived from our midst. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The thinking (person) must oppose all cruel customs, no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. ~ Albert Schweitzer

A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day. ~ Albert Schweitzer

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside,
He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is. ~ Albert Schweitzer

It is not difficult to pretend that Jesus never lived. The attempt to prove it, however, invariably produces the opposite conclusion. In the Jewish literature of the first century the existence of Jesus is not attested to with any certainty, and in the Greek and Latin literature of the same period there is no evidence for it at all. Of the two passages in his Antiquities in which the Jewish writer Josephus makes incidental mention of Jesus, one was undoubtedly interpolated by Christian copyists. The first pagan witness to His existence is Tacitus, who, during the reign of Trajan in the second decade of the second century A.D., reports in his Annals (XV.44) that the founder of the "Christian" sect (which Nero accused of causing the great fire at Rome) was executed under the government of Tiberius by the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Since ~ Albert Schweitzer

I do not want to frighten you by telling you about the temptations life will bring. Anyone who is healthy in spirit will overcome them. But there is something I want you to realize. It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do. If your soul is harmed, something irreparable happens, the extent of which you won't realize until it will be too late. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Not only is example the best way to teach, it is the only way. ~ Albert Schweitzer

In case my life should end with the cannibals, I hope they will write on my tombstone, 'We have eaten Dr. Schweitzer. He was good to the end.' ~ Albert Schweitzer

The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions. ~ Albert Schweitzer

It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help. And encourage the doctor within. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Don't blame, forgive, All healing is self-healing ~ Albert Schweitzer

Because I have confidence in the power of truth and in the spirit, I believe in the future of mankind. Affirmation of the world and of life contains within itself an optimistic willing and hoping which can never be lost. It is, therefore, never afraid to face the dismal reality and to see it as it really is. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Those who experiment on animals should never be able to quiet their own conscience by telling themselves that these cruelties have a worthy aim. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The awareness that we are all human beings together has become lost in war and through politics. ~ Albert Schweitzer

All the kindness which a man puts out into the world works on the heart and thoughts of mankind. ~ Albert Schweitzer

He who does not reflect his life back to God in gratitude does not know himself. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I have given up the ambition to be a great scholar. I want to be more- simply a human ... We are not true humans, but beings who live by a civilization inherited from the past, that keeps us hostage, that confines us. No freedom of movement. Nothing. Everything in us is killed by our calculations for our future, by our social position and cast. You see, I am not happy-yet I am happy. I suffer, but that is part of life. I live, I don't care about my existence, and that is the beginning of wisdom. ~ Albert Schweitzer

At 20 everyone has the face that God gave them, at 40 the face that life gave them, and at 60 the face they earned. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no sunday, it becomes an orphan. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Pablo Casals is a great musician in all he does: a cellist without equal, and extraordinary conductor and composer with something to say. I have been profoundly impressed by all I have heard of his work, but he is a musician of this stature because he is also a great man. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside. ~ Albert Schweitzer

If you are called upon to play a church service, it is a greater honor than if you were to play a concert on the finest organ in the world ... Thank God each time when you are privileged to sit before the organ console and assist in the worship of the Almighty. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Everything deep is also simple and can be reproduced simply as long as its reference to the whole truth is maintained. But what matters is not what is witty but what is true. ~ Albert Schweitzer

My life is my argument. ~ Albert Schweitzer

We are gripped by God's will of love, and must help carry out that will in this world, in small things as in great things, in saving as in pardoning. To be glad instruments of God's love in this imperfect world is the service to which we are called. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I still remain convinced that truth, love, peaceableness, meekness, and kindness are the violence which can master all other violence. The world will be theirs as soon as ever a sufficient number of people with purity of heart, with strength, and with perseverance think and live out the thoughts of love and truth, of meekness and peaceableness. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Set a great example. Someone may imitate it. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit. The roots of cruelty, therefore, are not so much strong as widespread. But the time must come when inhumanity protected by custom and thoughtlessness will succumb before humanity championed by thought. Let us work that this time may come. ~ Albert Schweitzer

About six years ago, Life magazine ran an article on the historicity of Jesus and I was floored to find that they conceded the only evidence we have for his existence is in the Gospels. But don't take Life's word for it. In his book The Quest of the Historical Jesus, the most definitive study that's ever been done on the subject, Albert Schweitzer admitted that there isn't a shred of conclusive proof that Christ ever lived, let alone was the son of God. He concludes that one must therefore accept both on faith. ~ Madalyn Murray O'Hair

I too had thoughts once of being an intellectual, but I found it too difficult. ~ Albert Schweitzer

When people have light in themselves, it will shine out from them. Then we get to know each other as we walk together in the darkness, without needing to pass our hands over each other's faces, or to intrude into each other's hearts. ~ Albert Schweitzer

From naive simplicity we arrive at more profound simplicity. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The highest proof of the spirit is love. Love the eternal thing which can already on earth possess as it really is. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. ~ Albert Schweitzer

My view is that we stand up for treating the animals in a considerate way, for completely renouncing the eating of meat and also for speaking out against it. This is what I do myself. And in this way many a one becomes aware of a problem that was put forward so late. ~ Albert Schweitzer

One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. ~ Albert Schweitzer

A thinking man feels compelled to approach all life with the same reverence he has for his own. ~ Albert Schweitzer

There can be no Kingdom of God in the world without the Kingdom of God in our hearts. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I do not believe that we can put into anyone ideas which are not in him
already. As a rule there is in everyone all sorts of good ideas, ready
like tinder. But much of this tinder catches fire, or catches it
successfully, only when it meets some flame or spark from the outside,
from some other person. Often, too, our own light goes out, and is
rekindled by some experience we go through with a fellow man. Thus we
have each of us cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have
lighted the flame within us. If we had before us those who have thus
been a blessing to us, and could tell them how it came about, they would
be amazed to learn what passed over from their life to ours. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up. ~ Albert Schweitzer

There is nothing more negative than the result of the critical study of the life of Jesus. The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the Kingdom of God, who founded the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, and died to give his work its final consecration, never had any existence. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in an historical garb. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation. ~ Albert Schweitzer

We are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Each act of unfaithfulness toward our inner being is a blot on our souls. If we continue to be unfaithful, our souls are eventually torn apart and we slowly bleed to death. ~ Albert Schweitzer

[Albert] Schweitzer thus carved out his own path through the first half of this century, a lonely and learned giant amidst the hordes of noisy and shallow theological pygmies. ~ N. T. Wright

Grow into your ideals so that life cannot rob you of them. ~ Albert Schweitzer

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. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now - always. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life
in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God. But I don't believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice. ~ Frank Sinatra

We wander through this life together in a semi-darkness in which none of us can distinguish exactly the features of his neighbour. Only from time to time, through some experience that we have of our companion, or through some remark that he passes, he stands for a moment close to us, as though illuminated by a flash of lightning. Then we see him as he really is. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Any profound view of the world is mysticism. It has, of course, to deal with life and the world, both of which are nonrational entities. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs, no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; but to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies. ~ Albert Schweitzer

We ought all to make an effort to act on our first thoughts and let our unspoken gratitude find expression. Then there will be more sunshine in the world, and more power to work for what is good. ~ Albert Schweitzer

He didn't care what she said - happiness was a lot more than good health and a poor memory. Happiness was this. It was her, and him, and that moment. Fuck Albert Schweitzer. He could kiss his ass. Happiness wasreal. ~ J.M. Darhower

The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character. ~ Albert Schweitzer

It is not enough merely to exist. It's not enough to say, "I'm earning enough to support my family. I do my work well. I'm a good father, husband, churchgoer." That's all very well. But you must do something more. Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. Even if it's a little thing, do something for those who need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too. ~ Albert Schweitzer

I look back upon my youth and realize how so many people gave me help, understanding, courage – very important things to me – and they never knew it. They entered into my life and became powers within me. All of us live spiritually by what others have given us, often unwittingly, in the significant hours of our life. At the time these significant hours may not even be perceived. We may not recognize them until years later when we look back, as one remembers some long-ago music or a boyhood landscape. We all owe to others much of the gentleness and wisdom that we have made our own; and we may well ask ourselves what will others owe to us. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. ~ Albert Schweitzer

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Help me to fling my life like a flaming firebrand into the gathering darkness of the world. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind, independent of the prevalent one among the crowds, and in opposition to it - a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. Only an ethical movement can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Does my behavior in respect of love affect nothing? That is because there is not enough love in me. ~ Albert Schweitzer

When I look back upon my early days I am stirred by the thought of the number of people whom I have to thank for what they gave me or for what they were to me. At the same time I am haunted by an oppressive consciousness of the little gratitude I really showed them while I was young. How many of them have said farewell to life without having made clear to them what it meant to me to receive from them so much kindness or so much care! Many a time have I, with a feeling of shame, said quietly to myself over a grave the words which my mouth ought to have spoken to the departed, while he was still in the flesh. ~ Albert Schweitzer

But the others, those who tried to bring Jesus to life at the call of love, found it a cruel task to be honest. The critical study of the life of Jesus has been for theology a school of honesty. The world had never seen before, and will never see again, a struggle for truth so full of pain and renunciation as that of which the Lives of Jesus of the last hundred years contain the cryptic record. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The fundamental rights of [humanity] are, first: the right of habitation; second, the right to move freely; third, the right to the soil and subsoil, and to the use of it; fourth, the right of freedom of labor and of exchange; fifth, the right to justice; sixth, the right to live within a natural national organization; and seventh, the right to education. ~ Albert Schweitzer

If you love something so much let it go. If it comes back it was meant to be; if it doesn't it never was ~ Albert Schweitzer

Passes he stands for a moment close to us, as though illumined by a flash of lightning. Then we see him as he really is. After ~ Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer, a century or more ago, used another strong image. Jesus, he said, was like a man convinced the wheel of history was going to turn in the opposite direction. He waited for this to happen, but it didn't. Then he threw himself upon the wheel, and it crushed him - but it did indeed start to turn in the other direction. ~ N. T. Wright

Who can describe the injustice and the cruelties that in the course of centuries the peoples of color of the world have suffered at the hands of Europeans? ... We and our civilization are burdened, really, with a great debt. We are not free to confer benefits on these men, or not, as we please; it is our duty. Anything we give them is not benevolence but atonement. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Where principles and heart stand in conflict with each other, let us make the law of the spirit free from the law of principles. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Ethics has not only to do with mankind but with the animal creation as well. This is witnessed in the purpose of St. Francis of Assisi. Thus we shall arrive that ethics is reverence for all life. This is the ethic of love widened universally. It is the ethic of Jesus now recognized as a necessity of thought ... Only a universal ethic which embraces every living creature can put us in touch with the universe and the will which is there manifest ... ~ Albert Schweitzer

I decided that I would make my life my argument, ~ Albert Schweitzer

What really matters is that we should all of us realize that we are guilty of inhumanity. The horror of this realization should shakes us out of our lethargy so that we can direct our hopes and our intentions to the coming of an era in which war will have no place. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Everyone must work to live, but the purpose of life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others. Only then have we ourselves become true human beings. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The interior joy we feel when we have done a good deed is the nourishment the soul requires. ~ Albert Schweitzer

A good example has twice the value of good advice ~ Albert Schweitzer

Dare to face the situation...Man has become a superman... But the superman with the superhuman power has not risen to the level of superhuman reason. To the degree which his power grows he becomes more and more a poor man... It must shake up our conscience that we become all the more inhuman the more we grow into superhuman. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Reverence for life brings us into a spiritual relation with the world which is independent of all knowledge of the universe. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Nature compels us to recognize the fact of mutual dependence, each life necessarily helping the other lives who are linked to it. In the very fibers of our being, we bear within ourselves the fact of the solidarity of life. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Arguing from facts never wins a definitive victory against skillfully presented opinion. ~ Albert Schweitzer

My life carries its own meaning in itself. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The gratitude ascending from man to God is the supreme transaction between heaven and earth. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Your eyes flashed fire into my soul. I immediately read the words of Dostoyevsky and Karl Marx, and in the words of Albert Schweitzer, I FANCY YOU! ~ Eddie Izzard

Thinking about death ... produces love for life. When we are familiar with death, we accept each week, each day, as a gift. Only if we are able thus to accept life bit by bit does it become precious. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The greatest living person in the world is some individual who at this very moment has gone in love to help another. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Hear our humble prayer, O God. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to the animals. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The fellowship of those who bear the mark of pain: who are the members of this Fellowship? Those who have learnt by experience what physical pain and bodily anguish mean, belong together all the world over; they are united by a secret bond. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Be faithful to your love and you mill be recompensed beyond measure. ~ Albert Schweitzer

There slowly grew up in me an unshakable conviction that we have no right to inflict suffering and death on another living creature, unless there is some unavoidable necessity for it. ~ Albert Schweitzer

The quiet conscience is an invention of the devil ~ Albert Schweitzer

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. ~ Albert Schweitzer