Quotes from Albert Schweitzer

Ethical existence [is] the highest manifestation of spirituality.

A man does not have to be an angel to be a saint.

Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.

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.

Reverence for life affords me my fundamental principle of morality.

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.'

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

Preservation of life is the only true joy.

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 who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

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.

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

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

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

Reverence for life is the highest court of appeal.

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

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

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

The stronger the reverence for natural life, the stronger grows also that for spiritual life.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.