Albert Schweitzer, Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography (1931)

I bought from some villagers a young osprey they had caught on a sandbank, in order to rescue it from their cruel hands. But then I had to decide whether I should let it starve, or kill a number of small fishes every day in order to keep it alive. I decided on the latter course, but every day the responsibility to sacrifice one life for another caused me pain.

— Albert Schweitzer on Predation

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I bought from some villagers a young osprey they had caught on a sandbank, in order to rescue it from their cruel hands. But then I had to decide whether I should let it starve, or kill a number of small fishes every day in order to keep it alive. I decided on the latter course, but every day the responsibility to sacrifice one life for another caused me pain." in the context of "Albert Schweitzer, Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography (1931)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Predation" (S) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Albert Schweitzer

About Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer (14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian philosopher, philanthropist, physician, theologian, missionary, and musicologist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.