--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our degeneration, when it is traced back…" description: "\"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..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg" --- # Our degeneration, when it is traced back to its origin in… ![“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.” quote by Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our worldview’s decline stems from the unnoticed loss of true optimism within society. **In simple terms:** Optimism has vanished unnoticed. Key Takeaway Cultivate visible optimism. Themes optimism worldview decline perception Mood hopeful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - community building - education - leadership Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can we recognize hidden optimism? - What role does optimism play in societal health? A Different Perspective Optimism alone may not solve systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Degeneration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degeneration/) [Degeneration Traced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degeneration-traced-3131506/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Midst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midst/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Optimism Vanished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism-vanished-3131505/) [True Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-optimism-3131507/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [True optimism is not the prospect of control over pain or elimination of it but survival through it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-richo/true-optimism-is-not-the-prospect-of-control-over-pain-or-elimination/) [David Richo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-richo/) > [When you believe, the impossible becomes possible. What you believe will become what is true. Your optimism today will determine your level of success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gordon/when-you-believe-the-impossible-becomes-possible-what-you-believe/) [Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gordon/) > [I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-do-not-believe-that-true-optimism-can-come-about-except-through/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [With despair, true optimism begins: the optimism of the man who expects nothing, who knows he has no rights and nothing coming to him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/with-despair-true-optimism-begins-the-optimism-of-the-man-who-expects/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/i-am-life-that-wants-to-live-in-the-midst-of-life-that-wants-to-live/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“Rose was patently a degenerate. Nature, in scheduling his characteristics, had pruned all superlatives. The rude armour of the flesh, under which the spiritual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-capes/rose-was-patently-a-degenerate-nature-in-scheduling-his/) [Bernard Capes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-capes/) > [Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-existed-but-they-formerly/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [It is not till it is discovered that high individual incomes will not purchase the mass of mankind immunity from cholera, typhus, and ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-h-tawney/it-is-not-till-it-is-discovered-that-high-individual-incomes-will-not/) [R. H. Tawney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-h-tawney/) > [Socialism crushes human rights, builds the state, impinges on the liberty of conscience, and breeds social, cultural, and economic degeneration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/socialism-crushes-human-rights-builds-the-state-impinges-on-the/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-beings-are-compelled-to-live-within-a-lie-but-they-can-be/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [In the eye, there is a type of junk that accumulates in the back of the retina that eventually causes us to go blind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/in-the-eye-there-is-a-type-of-junk-that-accumulates-in-the-back-of/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [Remember how many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery? And now, thanks to degeneration, we have this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-lukyanova/remember-how-many-beautiful-women-there-were-in-the-1950s-and-1960s/) [Valeria Lukyanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-lukyanova/) > [“The too perfect security of the Upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, a general dwindling in size strength and intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-too-perfect-security-of-the-upper-worlders-had-led-them-to-a-slow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The mind in its foolishness thinks that it is working in this body. Why should I be bound by one system of nerves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-mind-in-its-foolishness-thinks-that-it-is-working-in-this-body/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The domestication (the culture) of man does not go deep--where it does go deep it at once becomes degeneration (type: the Christian). The 'savage'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-domestication-the-culture-of-man-does-not-go-deep-where-it-does/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by Albert Schweitzer > [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-the-activity-of-man-directed-to-secure-the-inner-perfection/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Because I have confidence in the power of truth, and of the spirit, I have confidence in the future of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/because-i-have-confidence-in-the-power-of-truth-and-of-the-spirit-i/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Man's ethics must not end with man, but should extend to the universe. He must regain the consciousness of the great Chain of Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/man-s-ethics-must-not-end-with-man-but-should-extend-to-the-universe/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Sincerity is the foundation of the spiritual life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/sincerity-is-the-foundation-of-the-spiritual-life/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/i-am-life-that-wants-to-live-in-the-midst-of-life-that-wants-to-live/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“ Bauer 's 'Criticism of the Gospel History' is worth a good dozen Lives of Jesus, because his work, as we are only now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/bauer-s-criticism-of-the-gospel-history-is-worth-a-good-dozen-lives/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility to everything that has life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-in-its-unqualified-form-extended-responsibility-to/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The only way out of today's misery is for people to become worthy of each other's trust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-only-way-out-of-today-s-misery-is-for-people-to-become-worthy-of/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [When we observe contemporary society one thing strikes us. We debate but make no progress. Why? Because as peoples we do not yet trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/when-we-observe-contemporary-society-one-thing-strikes-us-we-debate/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [For those who sincerely seek the truth should not fear the outcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/for-those-who-sincerely-seek-the-truth-should-not-fear-the-outcome/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The ethic of Reverence for Life is the ethic of Love widened into universality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-ethic-of-reverence-for-life-is-the-ethic-of-love-widened-into/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/i-still-remain-convinced-that-truth-love-peaceableness-meekness-and/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/whatever-you-have-received-more-than-others-in-health-in-talents-in/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Every start on an untrodden path is a venture which only in unusual circumstances looks sensible and likely to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-start-on-an-untrodden-path-is-a-venture-which-only-in-unusual/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) [Explore all 400 Albert Schweitzer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) ## More Degeneration quotes > [Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-existed-but-they-formerly/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [It is not till it is discovered that high individual incomes will not purchase the mass of mankind immunity from cholera, typhus, and ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-h-tawney/it-is-not-till-it-is-discovered-that-high-individual-incomes-will-not/) [R. H. Tawney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-h-tawney/) > [Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-beings-are-compelled-to-live-within-a-lie-but-they-can-be/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“The too perfect security of the Upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, a general dwindling in size strength and intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-too-perfect-security-of-the-upper-worlders-had-led-them-to-a-slow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Rose was patently a degenerate. Nature, in scheduling his characteristics, had pruned all superlatives. The rude armour of the flesh, under which the spiritual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-capes/rose-was-patently-a-degenerate-nature-in-scheduling-his/) [Bernard Capes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-capes/) > [The mind in its foolishness thinks that it is working in this body. Why should I be bound by one system of nerves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-mind-in-its-foolishness-thinks-that-it-is-working-in-this-body/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The domestication (the culture) of man does not go deep--where it does go deep it at once becomes degeneration (type: the Christian). The 'savage'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-domestication-the-culture-of-man-does-not-go-deep-where-it-does/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Remember how many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery? And now, thanks to degeneration, we have this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-lukyanova/remember-how-many-beautiful-women-there-were-in-the-1950s-and-1960s/) [Valeria Lukyanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-lukyanova/) > [In the eye, there is a type of junk that accumulates in the back of the retina that eventually causes us to go blind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/in-the-eye-there-is-a-type-of-junk-that-accumulates-in-the-back-of/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [Socialism crushes human rights, builds the state, impinges on the liberty of conscience, and breeds social, cultural, and economic degeneration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/socialism-crushes-human-rights-builds-the-state-impinges-on-the/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [The beginning is always so fine!! But decay soon follows. A degeneration into the tired old situation. The rot sets in. This way, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhonen-vasquez/the-beginning-is-always-so-fine-but-decay-soon-follows-a-degeneration/) [Jhonen Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhonen-vasquez/) > [It is thought that the virus is a degeneration from a more complex life form. It may at one time have been capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/it-is-thought-that-the-virus-is-a-degeneration-from-a-more-complex/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Humanity to me is not a mob. A mob is a degeneration of humanity. A mob is humanity going the wrong way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/humanity-to-me-is-not-a-mob-a-mob-is-a-degeneration-of-humanity-a-mob/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [Welcome to the degeneration of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-green/welcome-to-the-degeneration-of-my-mind/) [Hank Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-green/) > [I am convinced that 1941 will be the crucial year of a great New Order in Europe. The world shall open up for everyone.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-am-convinced-that-1941-will-be-the-crucial-year-of-a-great-new/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) [Browse all 48 Degeneration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degeneration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Albert Schweitzer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back-to-its-origin-in-our-view-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Degeneration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back-to-its-origin-in-our-view-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/albert-schweitzer-701_facts_our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back_1946252.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our degeneration, when it is traced back to its origin in our view of the world really consists in the fact…” — Albert Schweitzer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Albert Schweitzer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our degeneration, when it is traced...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back-to-its-origin-in-our-view-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/our-degeneration-when-it-is-traced-back-to-its-origin-in-our-view-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```