Out of My Life and Thought is the autobiography of Albert Schweitzer, the theologian, musician, scientist, and medical missionary who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 (and donated his prize to build a leper colony). Schweitzer's autobiography is a masterful and motley blend of confession, narrative, adventure, and philosophy. The chapters about how he came to write The Quest for the Historical Jesus and The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle are indispensable summaries of and apologies for those books; the chapter called "I Resolve to Become a Jungle Doctor" is a model of Rilke-style life-changing decision; and the chapters on Bach and on organs are full of fascinating historical and mechanical detail. For contemporary readers, Out of My Life and Thought may be most compelling for its epilogue, which describes the ethical mysticism that Schweitzer called "Reverence for Life," which he achieved in his later years. The epilogue is full of stirringly Germanic passages such as the following: "Once man begins to think about the mystery of his life and the links connecting him with the life that fills the world, he cannot but accept, for his own life and all other life that surrounds him, the principle of Reverence for Life. He will act according to this principle of the ethical affirmation of life in everything he does. His life will become in every respect more difficult than if he lived for himself, but at the same time it will be richer, more beautiful, and happier. It will become, instead of mere living, a genuine experience of life." Because Schweitzer believed Christianity implied such world-encompassing reverence, he had the confidence and faith to "demand from Christianity that it reform itself in the spirit of sincerity and with thoughtfulness, so it may become conscious of its true nature." --Michael Joseph Gross


From Publishers Weekly
Even in our cynical age, the legendary story of jungle doctor Albert Schweitzer, self-sacrificingly devoted to the service of humanity, inspires. Out of print since the early 1970s, his classic autobiography, first published in 1933, speaks directly to modern readers in its searching appraisal of this "period of spiritual decline for mankind," an age in which science, technology and power seem divorced from ethical standards. In earnest prose Schweitzer discusses his research into primitive Christianity and his search for the historical Jesus; his love of Bach, "poet and painter in sound"; his fancy for rebuilding old church organs. His philosophy, which he called "Reverence for Life," blends mysticism and rationalism, with an impulse to release the "active ethic" he sees latent in Christianity. For this fluid new translation, Schweitzer's own corrections made between original publication and 1960 have been incorporated. Photos. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Of the many highly esteemed books Albert Schweitzer penned in his life, he valued his autobiography the most. He had become a legend and he wanted to remind readers that he was just a man, and a man who had learned from many others. He had been fortunate to be in the right places at the right times, to meet people of thoughtfulness and sympathy. He wanted to report his debts to them. He wanted to clarify the reasons and methods for his undertakings and to respond to some of his critics. And, he wished to honor something greater than he was -- life. 'Reverence for Life' became his life's motto and it brought him pain as well as joy as he sought to respect how precious and unique each life is. Schweitzer believed there was a way to live in the world, accept it, take joy from it -- and who could know this better than a man who had placed himself so much in it, given so much to it, and been ready to receive experience as a gift for which to be thankful. First published in 1931, this edition of Albert Schweitzer's Out Of My Life And Thought incorporates the great man's own revisions and aditions over thirty years, as well as an informative new foreword by Jimmy Carter. Out Of My Life And Thought is 'must' reading for anyone who wants to know more about the life of this Nobel Peace Prize winner and his remarkable achievements and sacrifices."-- Midwest Book Review


Book Description
" Out of My Life and Thought shatters the old myth and allows us to glimpse the real Albert Schweitzer, a man whose moral example is as relevant and compelling in the 1990s as it was in the 1930s on first publication. Eloquent and heartfelt."-- Los Angeles TimesOf the many highly esteemed books Albert Schweitzer penned in his life, he valued his autobiography the most. He had become a legend and he wanted to remind readers that he was just a man, and a man who had learned from many others. He had been fortunate to be in the right places at the right times, to meet people of thought and sympathy. He wanted to report his debts to them. He wanted to clarify his reasons and methods for his undertakings and to respond to some of his critics. And, he wished to honor something greater than he was--reverence for life. Reverence for Life became his life's motto, and it brought him pain as well as joy as he sought to respect how precious and unique each life is. Schweitzer believed there was a way to live in the world, accept it, take joy from it--and who could know this better than a man who had placed himself so much in it, given so much for it, and had been ready to receive experience as a gift to be thankful for. In addition to a preface by Rhena Schweitzer Miller and Antje Bultmann Lemke, this translation incorporates revisions and additions Schweitzer made for the French translation of 1960 and those he made for thirty years in his own copy of the original German edition. "This fascinating volume is the autobiography of the world-famous missionary doctor, organist, philosopher, theologian, and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, newly translated, researched, and corrected on the basis of recently discovered material."-- Booklist"An authentic twentieth-century classic. Few books in our time have had a greater impact on the life and values of untold numbers of people."--Norman Cousins


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German


About the Author
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1952. Although he proved himself highly gifted in science, theology, and music, and as an author, Schweitzer dedicated the later part of his life to medicine and to a hospital he founded in French Equatorial Africa. A true humanitarian, he used his Nobel Prize stipend to expand the hospital and to build a leper colony. His other titles available from Johns Hopkins University Press include The Quest of the Historical Jesus, The Primeval Forest, and The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Of the many highly esteemed books Albert Schweitzer penned in his life, he valued his autobiography the most. He had become a legend and he wanted to remind readers that he was just a man, and a man who had learned from many others. He had been fortunate to be in the right places at the right times, to meet people of thought and sympathy. He wanted to report his debts to them. He wanted to clarify his reasons and methods for his undertakings and to respond to some of his critics. And, he wished to honor something greater than he was--reverence for life. Reverence for Life became his life's motto, and it brought him pain as well as joy as he sought to respect how precious and unique each life is. Schweitzer believed there was a way to live in the world, accept it, take joy from it--and who could know this better than a man who had placed himself so much in it, given so much for it, and had been ready to receive experience as a gift to be thankful for.

In addition to a preface by Rhena Schweitzer Miller and Antje Bultmann Lemke, this translation incorporates revisions and additions Schweitzer made for the French translation of 1960 and those he made for thirty years in his own copy of the original German edition.

FROM THE CRITICS

Los Angeles Times

Allows us to glimpse the real Albert Schweitzer, a man whose moral example is as relevant and compelling in the 1990s as it was in the 1930s.

Publishers Weekly

Even in our cynical age, the legendary story of jungle doctor Albert Schweitzer, self-sacrificingly devoted to the service of humanity, inspires. Out of print since the early 1970s, his classic autobiography, first published in 1933, speaks directly to modern readers in its searching appraisal of this ``period of spiritual decline for mankind,'' an age in which science, technology and power seem divorced from ethical standards. In earnest prose Schweitzer discusses his research into primitive Christianity and his search for the historical Jesus; his love of Bach, ``poet and painter in sound''; his fancy for rebuilding old church organs. His philosophy, which he called ``Reverence for Life,'' blends mysticism and rationalism, with an impulse to release the ``active ethic'' he sees latent in Christianity. For this fluid new translation, Schweitzer's own corrections made between original publication and 1960 have been incorporated.

Booknews

One of two autobiographical works beginning a series that will combine material never published before with reprints of important volumes by Nobel Peace Laureate, Renaissance man, and humanitarian Schweitzer (1875-1965). First published in 1931 as Aus meinem Leben und thought: an autobiography and augmented with his own revisions and additions over the next 30 years. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

The Los Angeles Times