Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit.The roots of cruelty, therefore, are not so much strong as widespread.But the time must come when inhumanity protected by custom and thoughtlessness will succumb before humanity championed by thought.

Albert Schweitzer

About Albert Schweitzer

Portrait of Albert Schweitzer

Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈʃvaɪ̯t͡sɐ] ; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of the historical Jesus as depicted by the historical-critical method current...

More quotations from Albert Schweitzer

More quotations tagged with “cruelty”