Albert Schweitzer Quotes

I am certain and have always stressed that the destination of mankind is to become more and more humane. The ideal of humanity has to be revived.

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

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

Animal protection is education to the humanity.

For us the great men are not those who solved the problems, but those whodiscovered them.

Renunciation of thinking is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.

The only way out of today's misery is for people to become worthy of each other's trust.

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

It doesn't matter if an animal can reason. It matters only that it is capable of suffering and that is why I consider it my neighbor.

Preservation of life is the only true joy.

Let us rejoice in the truth, wherever we find its lamp burning.

Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter -- to all these music gives voice

Let me give you a definition of ethics: It is good to maintain and further life it is bad to damage and destroy life.

Mysticism occurs whenever a human being sees the separation between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal, as overcome.

Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.

We cannot abdicate our conscience to an organization, nor to a government.

As we acquire knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.

The harvested fields bathed in the autumn mist speak of God and his goodness far more vividly than any human lips.

You don't live in a world all alone. Your brothers are here too.

We need a boundless ethics which will include animals also.

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

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.

One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history.

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.

To me, good health is more than just exercise and diet. Its really a point of view and a mental attitude you have about yourself.

Every person I have known who has been truly happy has learned how to serve others.

Reincarnation contains a most comforting explanation of reality by means of which Indian thought surmounts difficulties which baffle the thinkers of Europe.

Aim for service and success will follow!

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

Do not lose heart, even if you must wait a bit before finding the right thing. Be prepared for disappointment also, but do not abandon the quest.

Search and see if there is not some place where you may invest your humanity.

A man does not have to be an angel in order to be saint.

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.

My life is full of meaning to me. The life around me must be full of significance to itself. If I am to expect others to respect my life, then I must respect the other life I see.

The gratitude that we encounter helps us believe in the goodness of the world, and strengthens us thereby to do what's good.

All people are endowed with the faculty of compassion, and for this reason can develop the humanitarian spirit.

Reverence for life is the highest court of appeal.

You must learn to understand the secret of gratitude. It is more than just so-called virtue. It is revealed to you as a mysterious law of existence. In obedience to it we have to fulfill our destiny.

Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility with regard to everything that has life.

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.

By respect for life we become religious in a way that is elementary, profound and alive.

Example is leadership.

An idea is, in the end, always stronger than circumstances.

I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.

The the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hope are optimistic.

Good is that which promotes life, evil is that which destroys life

The destiny of man is to be more and more human.

Our age is bent on trying to make the barren tree of skepticism fruitful by tying the fruits of truth on its branches.

Don't let your hearts grow numb. Stay alert. It is your soul which matters.

A heavy guilt rests upon us for what the whites of all nations have done to the colored peoples. When we do good to them, it is not benevolence--it is atonement.