Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of life and the importance of being part of a larger whole.
In this quote, Albert Schweitzer draws a parallel between a wave in the ocean and human existence, suggesting that just as a wave cannot separate itself from the ocean, individuals should not isolate their lives from the experiences of those around them. It indicates that fulfillment comes not from self-centered pursuits but from engaging with and contributing to the collective human experience.
In practice
In a motivational speech about teamwork and collaboration.
I do not want to frighten you by telling you about the temptations life will bring. Anyone who is healthy in spirit will overcome them. But there is something I want you to realize. It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do. If your soul is harmed, something irreparable happens, the extent of which you won't realize until it will be too late.
Within every patient there resides a doctor, and we as physicians are at our best when we we put our patients in touch with the doctor inside themselves.
By ethical conduct toward all creatures, we enter into a spiritual relationship with the universe.
No one can give a definition of the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the sense of something higher than ourselves, something that stirs in us thoughts, hopes, and aspirations which go out to the world of goodness, truth and beauty. The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it--to remain children of light.
The mistake made by all previous systems of ethics has been the failure to recognize that life as such is the mysterious value with which they have to deal. All spiritual life meets us within natural life. Reverence for life, therefore, is applied to natural life and spiritual life alike. In the parable of Jesus, the shepherd saves not merely the soul of the lost sheep but the whole animal. The stronger the reverence for natural life, the stronger grows also that for spiritual life.
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
Symmetry, as wide or as narrow as you may define its meaning, is one idea by which man through the ages has tried to comprehend and create order, beauty and perfection.
Keeping religion immune from criticism is both unwarranted and dangerous.
Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.
Potentially evil. Potentially good, too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality waiting to be shaped.
We learn to think of history as something that has already happened, to other people. Our own moment, filled as it is with minutiae destined to be forgotten, always looks smaller in comparison.
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