Albert schweitzer quotes

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.

There is no higher religion than human service.

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.

We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.

For animals that are overworked, underfed, and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death...and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words.

Thought is the strongest thing we have. Work done by true and profound thought - that is a real force.

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.

Any religion or philosophy which is not based on a respect for life is not a true religion or philosophy.

Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter -- to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water.

The spirit of the age is filled with the disdain for thinking.

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

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

Let your life be your argument.

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.

Constant Kindness can accomplish much.

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

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.

Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship to the universe.

At that point in life where your talent meets the needs of the world, that is where God wants you to be.

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

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.

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.

Do something good and someone might imitate it.

God much are the truly wealthy. So our inner happiness depends not on what we experience but on the degree of our gratitude to God, Gratitude — the Secret of Life.

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 will have sought and found how to serve.

A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

The great secret of success is to go through life as a person who never gets used up. That is possible for those who never argue and strive with people and facts, but in all experience retires upon themselves, and look for the ultimate cause of things in themselves.

The result of the voyage does not depend on the speed of the ship, but on whether or not it keeps a true course.

World-view is a product of life-view, not vice versa.

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

Open your eyes and look for some man, or some work for the sake of men, which needs a little time, a little friendship, a little sympathy, a little sociability, a little human toil....It is needed in every nook and corner. Therefore search and see if there is not some place where you may invest your humanity.

Wherever you turn, you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember, you don't live in a world all of your own

Eventually all things fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moments, and know EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.

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

If you own something you cannot give away, then you don't own it, it owns you.

It is the fate of every truth to be an object of ridicule when it is first acclaimed.

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.

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

It is not always granted to the sower to see the harvest.

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

We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

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.

Not one of us knows what effect his life produces, and what he gives to others; that is hidden from us and must remain so, though we are often allowed to see some little fraction of it, so that we may not lose courage.

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

The only ones who will find real happiness are those who find a way to serve

Renunciation of thinking is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.

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

The true worth of a man is not to be found in man himself, but in the colours and textures that come alive in others.

I can do no other than be reverent before everything that is called life. I can do no other than to have compassion for all that is called life. That is the beginning and the foundation of all ethics.

The great enemy of morality is indifference.

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

To affirm life is to deepen, to make more inward, and to exalt the will-to-life. At the same time the man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give every will-to-live the same reverence for life that he gives to his own. He experiences that other life as his own. He accepts as being good: to preserve life, to raise to its highest value life which is capable of development; and as being evil: to destroy life, to injure life, to repress life which is capable of development. This is the absolute, fundamental principle of the moral, and it is a necessity of thought.

Love is the only thing that increases twofold every time it is shared.

You must not expect anything from others. It's you, of yourself, of whom you must ask a lot. Only from oneself has one the right to ask everything and anything. This way it's up to you - your own choices - what you get from others remains a present, a gift.

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.

The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.

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.

The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.

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

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

Sincerity is the foundation of the spiritual life.

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

We must never allow the voice of humanity within us to be silenced. It is humanity's sympathy with all creatures that first makes us truly human.

Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

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.

To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kindness that stands behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

Animal protection is education to the humanity.

My life is my argument.

Just as white light consists of colored rays, so reverence for life contains all the components of ethics: love, kindliness, sympathy, empathy, peacefulness and power to forgive.

Knowing all truth is less than doing a little bit of good.

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

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.

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

No ray of sunlight is ever lost, but the green which it awakes into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted to the sower to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith.

The witch doctor succeeds for the same reason all the rest of us succeed. Each patient carries his or her own doctor inside him or her. They come to us not knowing that truth. We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work.

A good example has twice the value of good advice

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.

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

When man learns to respect even the smallest being of creation...nobody has to teach him to love his fellow man. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.

Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

Aim for service and success will follow!

You ask me for a motto. Here it is: SERVICE.

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

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

It's not enough merely to exist. Every man has to seek in his own way to make his own self more noble and to relize his own true worth.

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

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

The highest knowledge is to know that we are surrounded by mystery. Neither knowledge nor hope for the future can be the pivot of our life or determine its direction. It is intended to be solely determined by our allowing ourselves to be gripped by the ethical God, who reveals Himself in us, and by our yielding our will to His.

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

Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.

Whatever you have received more than others-in health, in talents, in ability, in success, in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home life-all this you must not take to yourself as a matter of course. In gratitude for your good fortune, you must remember in return some sacrifice of your own life for another life.

An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight... the truly wise person is colorblind.

You know of the disease in Central Africa called sleeping sickness. . . . There also exists a sleeping sickness of the soul. Its most dangerous aspect is that one is unaware of its coming. That is why you have to be careful. As soon as you notice the slightest sign of indifference, the moment you become aware of the loss of a certain seriousness, of longing, of enthusiasm and zest, take it as a warning. You should realize your soul suffers if you live superficially.

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.

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

A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him.

Even if it is a little thing, do something for those who have need of help.

If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

The three most important ways to lead people are:... by example... by example... by example.

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.

The disastrous feature of our civilization is that it is far more developed materially than spiritually. Its balance is disturbed.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.

The elemental fact, present in our consciousness every moment of our existence, is: I am life that wills to live, in the midst of life that wills to live.... The essence of the humane spirit is: Preserve life, promote life, help life to achieve its highest destiny. The essence of Evil is: Destroy life, harm life, hamper the development of life

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

True philosophy must start from the most immediate and comprehensive fact of consciousness: "I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live."

The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognize that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature.

Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile.

The time will come when public opinion will no longer tolerate amusements based on the mistreatment and killing of animals. The time will come, but when? When will we reach the point that hunting, the pleasure in killing animals for sport, will be regarded as a mental aberration?

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

Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.

Don't blame, forgive, All healing is self-healing

Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind independent of the one prevalent among the crowd and in opposition to it. A new public opinion must be created privately and unobtrusively. The existing one is maintained by the press, by propaganda, by organization, and by financial influences which are at its disposal. The unnatural way of spreading ideas must be opposed by the natural one, which goes from man to man and relies solely on the truth of the thoughts and the hearer's receptiveness of new truth.

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

I do not know what your destiny may be, but I do know this, that not one of you will find the happiness that each of you is seeking until you have first sought and found a way in which to unselfishly serve others.

The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.

The only thing of importance, when we depart, will be the traces of love we have left behind.

No one can give a definition of the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the sense of something higher than ourselves, something that stirs in us thoughts, hopes, and aspirations which go out to the world of goodness, truth and beauty. The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it--to remain children of light.

The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used to failing.

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.

In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace. When the true spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited possibilities. Only when this really happens - when the spirit of peace awakens and takes possession of men's hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing.

For those who sincerely seek the truth should not fear the outcome.

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

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

One person can and does make a difference.