Written By: Albert Schweitzer Edited By: Anne Redpath Reviewed Edition: Creative Education Incorporated, 1985 Hardcover, 32 Pages ISBN: 0-88682-013-8 Quotes Table of Contents
The Living Philosophies series presents "the thoughts, words and legacies of great thinkers and doers." This very short book--32 pages of single column text that doesn't fill half the space available per page--presents Reverence for Life in what appears to be Schweitzer's own words. It doesn't include references, but the writing sounds like a collection of Schweitzer quotes. The book is an easy, quick read and presents a fair, readable overview of Schweitzer's Reverence for Life.
"The elemental fact, present in our consciousness every moment of our existence, is: I am life that wills to live, in the midst of life that wills to live. ... The essence of Goodness is: Preserve life, promote life, help life to achieve its highest destiny. The essence of Evil is: Destroy life, harm life, hamper the development of life."
"In the main, reverence for life dictates the same sort of behavior as the ethical principle of love. But reverence for life contains within itself the rationale of the commandment to love, and it calls for compassion for all creature life."
"Reverence for life means being seized by the unfathomable, forward-moving will which is inherent in all Being. It raises us above perception of the world of objects and makes us into the tree that is safe from drought because it is planted by the water."
"When in the spring the withered gray of the fields gives way to a carpet of green, this is because millions of shoots are springing up anew from the roots. Our age must achieve spiritual renewal. It can do so only in one way: the masses of the people must reflect upon the nature of true goodness. Out of such reflection, new principles and ideas will inevitably arise. As the trees bear the same fruit anew year after year, so from generation to generation all worthwhile ideas must be born anew in the thinking of mankind."
The book does not have a Table of Contents or chapter headings.
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