Reporters and city officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station one afternoon in 1953. The person they were meeting was the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. After the train came to a stop, a giant of a man with bushy hair and a large mustache stepped from the train. As cameras flashed, city officials approached him with outstretched hands and various people began telling him how honored they were to meet him. The man thanked them and then, looking over their heads, asked to be excused for a moment. He quickly walked through the crowd until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was struggling with two large suitcases. He picked up the bags and, with a smile, escorted the woman to a bus. As he returned to the greeting party, he apologized, "Sorry to have kept you waiting."
The man was Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who had spent his life helping the poor in Africa. In response to Schweitzer's action, a member of the reception committee said, with great admiration, to the reporter standing next to him, "That's the first time I ever saw a sermon walking." -- Author unknown
"Example is not the only thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." -- Albert Schweitzer
"Sometimes our light goes out, but it is brought again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." -- Albert Schweitzer
