Albert Schweitzer Quotes
Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind independent of the one prevalent among the crowd and in opposition to it. A new public opinion must be created privately and unobtrusively. The existing one is maintained by the press, by propaganda, by organization, and by financial influences which are at its disposal. The unnatural way of spreading ideas must be opposed by the natural one, which goes from man to man and relies solely on the truth of the thoughts and the hearer's receptiveness of new truth.
Schweitzer, Albert. The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization. Translated by C.T. Campion, A. & C. Black, 1923, p. 74.
This a particularly important quotation from a religious source. This view was espoused by Spinoza and for it he was excommunicated by the Jews, Christians and the Muslims. Although he was a devout Jew, he was accused of being irreligious because this view undermined the authority of the Rabbis, Priests, and Imams. See {624859}.
The British, despite Clinton’s correct perception of its importance, could not capture the “hearts and minds” of the American colonists. The importance of the quotation lies in the fact that it appears to be the first time the phrase was used in a political context. Click http://politicalquotes.org/search/node/Hearts%20and%20Minds to see other, later, political quotations that use the phrase. See especially {628753} which became one of the most famous quotations to come out of the Vietnam War.
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer OM was an Alsatian polymath. He was a theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran, Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by the historical-critical method current at this time, as well as the traditional Christian view. His contributions to the interpretation of Pauline Christianity concern the role of Paul's mysticism of "being in Christ" as primary and the doctrine of Justification by Faith as secondary.
