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The thinking man must oppose all cruelties no matter how deeply rooted in tradition or surrounded by a halo.

Albert Schweitzer

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Albert Schweitzer
Age: 90 †
Born: 1875
Born: January 14
Died: 1965
Died: September 4
Composer
Missionary
Music Historian
Musicologist
Organist
Philosopher
Physician
Physician Writer
Theologian
University Teacher
Mont-Libre
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer
Tradition
Cruelties
Matter
Halo
Must
Halos
Men
Oppose
Thinking
Surrounded
Rooted
Cruelty
Deeply

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A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.
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The demands of Jesus are difficult just because they require us to do something extraordinary. At the same time he asks us to regard these as something usual, ordinary.
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We are compelled by the commandment of love contained in our hearts and thought, and proclaimed by Jesus, to give rein to our natural sympathy for animals. We are also compelled to help them and spare them suffering.
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When man learns to respect even the smallest being of creation...nobody has to teach him to love his fellow man. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.
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I look back upon my youth and realize how so many people gave me help, understanding, courage - very important things to me - and they never knew it. They entered into my life and became powers within me.
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Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit. Extract from 'Memories of childhood and youth.'
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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 this you must not take to yourself as a matter of course. In gratitude for your good fortune, you must remember in return some sacrifice of your own life for another life.
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If you truly desire happiness, seek and learn how to serve.
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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 regulate this activity from outside we must leave entirely to each individual its shaping and its extension. From every point of view, then, world- and life-affirmation and ethics are non-rational, and we must have the courage to admit it.
Albert Schweitzer
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The great enemy of morality is indifference.
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The destiny of man is to be more and more human.
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Don't stop to ask whether the animal or plant you meet deserves your sympathy, or how much it feels, or even whether it can feel at all: respect it and consider all life sacred.
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Where possible Paul avoids quoting the teaching of Jesus, in fact even mentioning it. If we had to rely on Paul, we should not know that Jesus taught in parables, had delivered the sermon on the mount, and had taught His disciples the 'Our Father.' Even where they are specially relevant, Paul passes over the words of the Lord.
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There is much coldness among men because we do not dare to be as cordial as we really are.
Albert Schweitzer
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Renunciation of thinking is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.
Albert Schweitzer
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Knowing all truth is less than doing a little bit of good.
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Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. This is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.
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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 the humane spirit 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
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Those who experiment on animals should never be able to quiet their own conscience by telling themselves that these cruelties have a worthy aim.
Albert Schweitzer
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Let your life be your argument.
Albert Schweitzer