Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without it being spiritually worthwhile. For instance, peace is most worthwhile. Thus unless we hold in us the spirit of peace, we will never find peace. Let me quote Albert Schweitzer from his Nobel Lecture, 1954:
Their [the League of Nations’ and the United Nations’] efforts were doomed to fail since they were obliged to undertake them in a world in which there was no prevailing spirit directed toward peace. And being only legal institutions, they were unable to create such a spirit. The ethical spirit alone has the power to generate it. Kant deceived himself in thinking that he could dispense with it in his search for peace. We must follow the road on which he turned his back.
(Quoted from page 223 of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision: A Sourcebook, edited by Predrag Cicovacki. Oxford University Press, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Albert Schweitzer, click here. For images of or relating to Albert Schweitzer, click here. For Predrag Cicovacki’s homepage, click here.
Their [the League of Nations’ and the United Nations’] efforts were doomed to fail since they were obliged to undertake them in a world in which there was no prevailing spirit directed toward peace. And being only legal institutions, they were unable to create such a spirit. The ethical spirit alone has the power to generate it. Kant deceived himself in thinking that he could dispense with it in his search for peace. We must follow the road on which he turned his back.
(Quoted from page 223 of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision: A Sourcebook, edited by Predrag Cicovacki. Oxford University Press, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Albert Schweitzer, click here. For images of or relating to Albert Schweitzer, click here. For Predrag Cicovacki’s homepage, click here.
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