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
life character adversity
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.
reverence-for-life ethics morality
Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.
argument life-is
My life is my argument.
heart men compassion
If there is anything I have learned about men and women, it is that there is a deeper spirit of altruism than is ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to the underground streams, so, too, the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released.
gratitude grateful doe
He who does not reflect his life back to God in gratitude does not know himself.
brother century my-brother
The African is my brother but he is my younger brother by several centuries.
behaves clever man
Man is a clever aninmal who behaves like an imbecile.
circle civilization compassion himself living man philosophy until
Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. - The Philosophy of Civilization.
difficult ethic love task
To think out in every implication the ethic of love for all creation... this is the difficult task which confronts our age.
answer hoping knowledge optimistic pessimist question whether willing
To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic
actual hour indeed seems special time truly truth unsuitable
Truth has not special time of its own. Its hour is now—always and indeed then most truly when it seems unsuitable to actual circumstances.
heroes life suffering
There are no heroes of action: only heroes of renunciation and suffering - Out of My Life and Thoughts.
cannot describe detail enabling grasp knowledge matters meaning progress purpose
The only progress that knowledge allows is in enabling us to describe more and more in detail the world we see and its evolution. What matters in a world-view is to grasp the meaning and purpose of everything, and that we cannot do.
littles pay privilege
Seek always to do some good, somewhere... Even if it's a little thing, so something for those that need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it.