"As far back as I can remember I was saddened by the amount of misery I
saw in the world around me. Youth's unqualified joie de vivre I never
really knew, and I believe that to be the case with many children, even
though they appear outwardly merry and quite free from care. One thing
that specially saddened me was that the unfortunate animals had to suffer
so much pain and misery. The sight of an old limping horse, tugged forward
by one man while another kept beating it with a stick to get it to the
knacker's yard at Colmar, haunted me for weeks. It was quite
incomprehensible to me--this was before I began going to school--why in my
evening prayers I should pray for human beings only. So when my mother had
prayed with me and had kissed me goodnight, I used to add silently a
prayer that I had composed myself for all living creatures. It ran thus:
'O, heavenly Father, protect and bless all things that have breath; guard
them from all evil, and let them sleep in peace.'"
~ Dr. Albert Schweitzer - Excerpt from "The Light Within Us"
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