Written By: Albert Schweitzer Edited By: Thomas Kiernan Translators Not Identified Reviewed Edition: Philosophical Library, 1965 Hardcover, 74 Pages No ISBN Number Quotes Table of Contents
This book contains a collection of Schweitzer quotations on ethics and the human spirit. Although a short book, it is very powerful. Schweitzer explains both the foundation of Reverence for Life and its application to everyday situations. Well written with no philosophical jargon, this book has my highest recommendation. Unfortunately, it is long out of print, but may be available via a used book search.
[Excerpt from Albert Schweitzer Speaks Out reprinted from 1964 World Book Year Book] "At sunset of the third day, near the village of Igendja, we moved along an island set in the middle of the wide river. On a sandbank to our left, four hippopotamuses and their young plodded along in our same direction. Just then, in my great tiredness and discouragement, the phrase, 'Reverence for Life,' struck me like a flash. As far as I knew, it was a phrase I had never heard nor ever read. I realized at once that it carried within itself the solution to the problem that had been torturing me. Now I knew that a system of values which concerns itself only with our relationship to other people is incomplete and therefore lacking in power for good. Only by means of reverence for life can we establish a spiritual and humane relationship with both people and all living creatures within our reach. Only in this fashion can we avoid harming others, and, within the limits our our capacity, go to their aid whenever they need us."
[Excerpt from The Relations of the White and Colored Races, Contemporary Review, January 1928] "The fundamental rights of man are, first, the right to habitation; secondly, the right to move freely; thirdly, the right to the soil and subsoil, and to the use of it; fourthly, the right to freedom of labor and of exchange; fifthly, the right to justice; sixthly, the right to live within a natural national organization; and, seventhly, the right to education."
Introductory Note
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