A radical 100 year-old philosophy of respect for life and the environment whose time has come.

Ranked #4,343 in Healthy Living, #78,106 overall

On an island in the middle of a wide river in the heart of Africa 'Reverence for Life' struck Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) "like a flash."


Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer's philosophy of Reverence for Life can be summed up with this simple story. A farmer grows a crop of lucern to feed his livestock, which he harvests annually for fodder. But should he idly pick a single flower by the roadside on his way home then he has committed a crime against Nature. If we think about it this principle can be applied to all aspects of life, including animals. It's a 100 year old philosophy of respect for life that was way ahead of it's time. But Schweitzer's ideas go far beyond this simple story. Some thought-provoking quotes from his various writings are included below. It's an idea whose time seems to be now.

'Reverence for Life' quotes from Schweitzer's writings

"At sunset of the third day,. near the village of Igendja, we moved along an island set in the middle of the wide river. On a sandbank to our left, four hippopotamuses and their young plodded along in our same direction. Just then, in my great tiredness and discouragement, the phrase, 'Reverence for Life,' struck me like a flash. As far as I knew, it was a phrase I had never heard nor ever read. I realized at once that it carried within itself the solution to the problem that had been torturing me. Now I knew that a system of values which concerns itself only with our relationship to other people is incomplete and therefore lacking in power for good. Only by means of reverence for life can we establish a spiritual and humane relationship with both people and all living creatures within our reach." From 'Albert Schweitzer Speaks Out' 1964.

"The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognise that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. We realise that all life is valuable and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship to the universe." From 'Religion & Modern Civilization' 1934

"Hegel [the philosopher] dares to say that everything serves progress. The passions of rulers and of peoples - all are the servants of progress. One can only say that Hegel did not know the passions of people as we know them, or he would not have dared to write that!" From 'Religion & Modern Civilization' 1934

"This early influence upon me of the commandment not to kill or to torture other creatures is the great experience of my childhood and youth. By the side of that all others are insignificant." From 'Memoirs of Childhood and Youth' 1924

"One thing that specially saddened me was that the unfortunate animals had to suffer so much pain and misery. The sight of an old limping horse, tugged forward by one man while another kept beating it with a stick to get it to the knacker's yard at Colmar, haunted me for weeks." From 'Memoirs of Childhood and Youth' 1924

Schweitzer's 'Reverence for Life' on YouTube

Albert Schweitzer's Reverence for Life: Unity-and-Diversity World Council Reverend Leland Stewart
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Albert Schweitzer on Amazon

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How to make your own Reverence for Life statement

Here's my own philosophy of life.

As I learned for myself, in the most dramatic way (bankruptcy), making a few tweeks to your life can also tweek your luck, self confidence, career, success, prosperity, happiness, finding a soulmate, the dreaded Mid-Life Crisis, also in a dramatic way! This is the broader picture where finding the real purpose of your life - just any old purpose won't do - is the very foundation of the mix of life we need to get right if we are to succeed at anything!

"There is nothing wrong with change," said Sir Winston Churchill, the British wartime Prime Minister, "if it is in the right direction."

And that's the crucial question, isn't it. Without a crystal ball how can we ever be reasonably sure which direction is the best one for us to choose? There's a good answer!

You already know what you're meant to do with your life.

It's the single secret to happiness, success, luck, career, self confidence, self esteem, prosperity, good health, even to finding a soul mate. It's the big message I got from having my life crash and burn, ending up homeless, unemployed, penniless and friendless.

What I wish I knew then - what absolutely everyone on the planet should know - is that we all have a unique life purpose, a destiny, a hidden talent if you like, and it is within us waiting to be found (unless we're one of the few lucky ones who've found it already).

We tend to think of destiny as a script for our lives imposed upon us by some external force, God perhaps, over which we have no control.

I have a different view. "Destiny" is a gift we chose for ourselves before we were born - that's right - by our own soul. It's our whole purpose in life - or should be - and failure to find it leads to trouble and, to say the least, bad luck.

"Finding" our life purpose, or destiny, is really a misleading concept because it's not something we have to go out and "get," but rather it's something we need to go within and claim.

You've already got it, because you chose it - even if you haven't consciously realized it. Then you need a plan to bring it into reality - because we create our own reality with our thoughts, an idea recently made popular in The Secret which had everyone talking a few years ago.

Two of the key contributors to 'The Secret' went further. Jerry and Esther Hicks published a series of eye-opening channeled books based on a spiritual take on The Law of Attraction. And Bob Proctor went one better (11 better, actually!) and released his bestselling '11 Forgotten Laws'.

Now there's the new Cosmic Ordering craze: is it really possible to place an order with the Universe for whatever you want? I've found this truly life-changing stuff - literally!

What does science have to say on the matter?

In a 24,000 best seller published by Bob Proctor's organisation, Success Engeering, followed by Luck Engineering, - read about both here! - presented the cutting edge science and quantum physics behind how to literally engineer luck and good fortune into your life or business.

But how do we know what our true life purpose or destiny is when we see it?

In a survey conducted among creative people of all kinds, from science to art, to learn the cause of 'genius' (Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian), most claimed that they followed their intuition, trusted their feelings, or as one respondent replied, "I just trust my beeps."

When I get an irritating feeling up my spine I now know it's not the right thing to do. For too long I ignored that irritating feeling, that unease. But a feeling of exhilaration means, go for it! Project your thoughts into the future and see how you feel.

"Your broader Non-Physical part of you communicates with you," wrote Jerry and Esther Hicks in 'The Law of Attraction', "and has done so from the day you emerged into this physical body. That communication comes in many varieties - but all of you are receiving the basic communication that comes forth, in the form of your emotion. Every emotion that you feel is, without exception, communication from your Inner Being letting you know, in the moment, the appropriateness of whatever you are thinking, speaking, or acting."

To pull all this together in a meaningful whole I recommend this comprehensive up-to-date resource as your definitive guide to undersanding, and implementing, what should really be called the Law of Thought, in your own life.

Your life purpose will ALWAYS utilize your greatest passions, talents and interests.

"Your brain is similar to an iceberg," says psychologist Valerie Dawson. "The 90% of the iceberg deep below the surface is where all the information is that you have been searching for - all the wisdom and the 'knowing' about what you were put on this Earth to do is right there! Inside this part deep within are all the keys to your success, happiness, and abundant life!"

Your life's purpose is already within you!

The Greek philosopher Plato knew this when he wrote in his best-known work the Republic. "Your destiny shall not be alloted to you, but you shall choose it for yourselves." He called it your career on Earth while author Caroline Myss (a guest on Oprah) calls it your mission. Napoleon Hill, in his famous bestseller Think & Grow Rich called the secret to all of life's riches our Definite Major Purpose. Of this he wrote:

"The secret to which I refer ... cannot be purchased for money, for the reason that it comes in two parts. One part is already in possession of those who are ready for it."

"Follow your bliss," said scholar, author and mythology expert Joseph Campbell, "and doors will open where you never knew they existed."

Or, trust your beeps!

I didn't. I had to lose everything before the doors started flying open for me. I don't want this to happen to you (if it does I've just told you what to do about it)!

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PS. You can read the full account of my fate after bankruptcy, of my adventures with nothing, my search for the meaning of it all, and the true mystery that fell into my lap soon afterwards (was it chance or destiny?) in my 211-page non-fiction book 'The Ghost of Granny Fitz' What was her shocking secret?. How did I go from life in an old caravan in the Aussie bush to New York, Regency England and Northern Italy?
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