Written By: Harold E. Robles Reviewed Edition: Maurice Bassett, Anna Maria (Florida), 2020 Softcover, 87 pages ISBN 978-1-60025-155-9
This book is available via the Internet Archive at [IA]. Quotes
Table of Contents
Intended for young readers, this book provides an overview of Albert Schweitzer's life with an emphasis on his ethic of Reverence for Life. It is clearly intended to provide inspiration and guidance. Much of the discussion seems to be abstracted from Schweitzer's own writings, particularly Memoirs of Childhood and Youth and Out of My Life and Thought. There are many interesting photographs sprinkled throughout the text.
The four chapters about Schweitzer total only 43 pages so the book necessarily has only a very high level overview of his 90 years of accomplishments and thought. There is an attempt at portraying Schweitzer as an adventurer, but with so little space available it does not fully succeed in conveying the courage and excitement of Schweitzer's young adulthood when he forsaked a promising career and struggled to establish a hospital in an area with great need but few resources. Robles does include important descriptions of Helene Schweitzer's work and commitment, which were impressive in their own right.
[From the preface written by Rhena Schweitzer Miller, the daughter of Albert and Helene Schweitzer] "I am always amazed at the influence my father, Albert Schweitzer, has had, and still has today, on so many people. ... Many have listened to the voice of this man from the jungle. To know that he not only stood up for his beliefs in words and writing but also gave them concrete realization in his hospital in the African forest, gives him a unique credibility and authority."
[As a child] "...Albert did terribly in school. At the end of the school year in the spring of 1886 [when Albert was 11 years old] he returned home with a report card so bad that there was doubt whether he would be allowed to return the next year. ... Many years later, Albert Schweitzer recalled how one teacher made a difference in his life during the next school year. 'A savior appeared for me in the person of a new [teacher], Dr. Wehmann.'"
"Seeing the humble hippos caring for their young helped Schweitzer realize something about why so many people mistreated each other. They did not care for each other. Only by caring for and respecting each other, having reverence for life, could people treat others--and all living creatures--better."
Preface by Rhena Schweitzer Miller
Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 2: How to Serve Humanity?
Chapter 3: Oganga
Chapter 4: Prophet in the Wilderness
Afterword by Christian Will
Sources
Important Dates
Further Reading
Index
A Call to Action
About the Author
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