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Portrait of Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer

(1875–1965) Pacifist France

400 quotes in 1566 categories

Albert Schweitzer’s 400 reflections invite you to pause and consider the deeper currents of humanity. His words weave together moral philosophy and a profound reverence for life, offering guidance that feels both timeless and urgently relevant.

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Albert Schweitzer was a pacifist from France, best known for J. S. Bach.

Quick Facts About Albert Schweitzer

Born: January 14, 1875
Died: September 4, 1965
Nationality: France
Profession: Pacifist
Notable works: J. S. Bach
Known for: The Quest of the Historical Jesus
Spouse: Helene Bresslau

About Albert Schweitzer

Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer was a German polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of the historical Jesus as depicted by the historical-critical method current at this time, as well as the traditional Christian view. His contributions to the interpretation of Pauline Christianity concern the role of Paul's mysticism of "being in Christ" as primary and the doctrine of justification by faith as secondary.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

Nobel Peace Prize Pour le Mérite Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis Sonning Prize Goethe Medal for Art and Science Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt

Show 11 more awards

Paracelsus Medal of the German Medical Association Prince Carl Medal Officer of the Legion of Honour Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour Knight of the Legion of Honour Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order honorary citizen of Frankfurt am Main James Cook Medal Great Gold medal of the Société d'Encouragement au Progrès honorary citizen of Pfaffenhoffen Honorary member of the Order of Merit

Quotes by Albert Schweitzer

Preservation of life is the only true joy.

Albert Schweitzer

Joy

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My life is my argument.

Albert Schweitzer

Argument

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Let your life be your argument.

Albert Schweitzer

Argument

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Constant Kindness can accomplish much.

Albert Schweitzer

Accomplish

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I must forgive without noise or fuss.

Albert Schweitzer

Forgive

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Thought is the strongest thing we have.

Albert Schweitzer

Belief

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Example is leadership.

Albert Schweitzer

Example

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Love ... is a living reality.

Albert Schweitzer

Inspirational

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In resigning ourselves to our fate without a struggle, we are guilty of inhumanity.

Albert Schweitzer

Fate

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

Albert Schweitzer

Happiness

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Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.

Albert Schweitzer

Needs

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The ethic of Reverence for Life is the ethic of Love widened into universality.

Albert Schweitzer

Ethics

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Bach is thus a terminal point. Nothing comes from him; everything merely leads to him.

Albert Schweitzer

Bach

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

Albert Schweitzer

Away

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

Albert Schweitzer

Life

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

Albert Schweitzer

Angel

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Reverence for life, veneratio vitæ, is the most direct and at the same time the profoundest achievement of my will-to-live.

Albert Schweitzer

Achievement

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...try to tell the people of America about Dr. Gerson's merits and ...results...I wish you the best in your difficult task.

Albert Schweitzer

Age

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Man's ethics must not end with man, but should extend to the universe. He must regain the consciousness of the great Chain…

Albert Schweitzer

Chains

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

Albert Schweitzer

Awakening

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Help me to fling my life like a flaming firebrand into the gathering darkness of the world.

Albert Schweitzer

Darkness

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Because I have confidence in the power of truths and of spirit, I believe in the future of mankind.- The Philosophy of…

Albert Schweitzer

Confidence

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Affirmation of the world, which means affirmation of the will-to-live that manifests itself around me, is only possible if I devote myself…

Albert Schweitzer

Affirmation

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A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and…

Albert Schweitzer

Next

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All art speaks in signs and symbols. No one can explain how it happens that the artist can waken to life in…

Albert Schweitzer

Adequate

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My life is full of meaning to me. The life around me must be full of significance to itself. If I am…

Albert Schweitzer

Animal

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Your life is something opaque, not transparent, as long as you look at it in an ordinary human way. But if you…

Albert Schweitzer

Amazement

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What the activity of this disposition of ours means in the evolution of the world, we do not know. Nor can we…

Albert Schweitzer

Activity

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There is within each of us a modulation, an inner exaltation, which lifts us above the buffetings with which events assail us.…

Albert Schweitzer

Dependence

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Jesus means something to our world because a mighty spiritual force streams forth from him and flows through our being also. This…

Albert Schweitzer

Christ

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Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot…

Albert Schweitzer

Accepting

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You must not expect anything from others. It's you, of yourself, of whom you must ask a lot. Only from oneself has…

Albert Schweitzer

Asks

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Today it is considered as exaggeration to proclaim constant respect for every form of life as being the serious demand of a…

Albert Schweitzer

Amazed

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There is nothing more negative than the result of the critical study of the life of Jesus. The Jesus of Nazareth who…

Albert Schweitzer

Atheism

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To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the…

Albert Schweitzer

Action

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The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition or surrounded by a halo. We need…

Albert Schweitzer

Animal

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Who can describe the injustice and the cruelties that in the course of centuries the peoples of color of the world have…

Albert Schweitzer

Atonement

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Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward people, but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for…

Albert Schweitzer

Compassion

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To the man who is truly ethical all life is sacred, including that which from the human point of view seems lower…

Albert Schweitzer

Acting

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By respect for life we become religious in a way that is elementary, profound and alive. Impart as much as you can…

Albert Schweitzer

Accepting

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Albert Schweitzer by topic

Life (129) Men (48) World (47) Religion (44) Inspirational (40) Love (37) Ethics (36) Animal (35) Reverence (30) Ifs (29) Reverence for life (26) Time (25) Thinking (24) Philosophy (24) Way (22) Spirit (22) Truth (21) Spiritual (21) Helping (20) People (19) Compassion (19) Life is (18) Gratitude (18) Giving (18) Reverence Life (17)