"Albert Schweitzer's standard attire was a white pith helmet, white shirt and pants and black tie. He had worn one hat for forty years, the tie for twenty. Told that some men owned dozens of neckties, he remarked, 'For one neck?'"
The phrase 'reverence for life' aptly sums up Schweitzer's philosophy. He was interrupted during a dinner by a group requesting that he explain his ethics. He talked patiently for twenty minutes. When one of the visitors wanted him to give a specific example of 'reverence for life,' Schweitzer said, 'Reverence for life means my answering your kind inquiries; it also means your reverence for my dinner hour.'
Schweitzer's doctrine of 'reverence for life' was to be literally obeyed. It accounted for his vegetarianism, as well as for his attitude toward all animals. The American TV star Jack Paar once visited him at his hospital in Lambarene. A dog appeared, chasing a chicken. In French Dr. Schweitzer shouted, 'No! No! Remember we have won the Nobel Peace Prize!'
~ Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965. Alsatian-born medical missionary, musician. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his work in Africa.
Source:THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman General Editor.
