ALBERT SCHWEITZER
Dr. Schweitzer
An Early Version of the Hospital
Patient with Yaws
Schweitzer with His Pet Deer: it devoured a chapter of a manuscript
He loved all life forms
He would switch his writing arm rather than disturb his napping feline friend
In 1952, as Mother Teresa tottered towards the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Albert Schweitzer was proudly accepting his.
He could have lived luxuriously in his native Germany. A university lecturer, a musician, a writer, a speaker and an organist were just a few of his list of accomplishments. Despite his successes, he surrendered all to study medicine. On completion, he volunteered to start a hospital in Gabon, in the only available building, an old chicken house.
Against the odds, in less than a month, Schweitzer had treated over two thousand patients with diseases ranging from Yaws to Yellow Fever. At the same time, he wrote manuscripts, answered letters, solicited donations, directed nurses and managed the daily hospital rounds.
His view of life was also liberal. He acknowledged that we live under a law of necessity which compels killing and injury to sustain life. However, killing and injury should be the consequence of necessity not thoughtless acts of violence against unsuspecting animals.
He reckoned, the purpose of life is to serve humanity. To satisfy that inner cry for fulfillment he surrendered all for life in a primeval African jungle. One of his guiding principles: Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.
Excerpted from The Eloquence of Effort