"Everything deep is also simple and can be reproduced simply as long as its reference to the whole truth is maintained. But what matters is not what is witty but what is true"
About this Quote
Depth is not the same as complication. The most profound insights can often be stated with crisp clarity, provided they remain connected to the larger fabric of reality. Sever that connection and simplicity degrades into a slogan; keep it intact and simplicity becomes a doorway into depth. Albert Schweitzer ties clarity to wholeness, suggesting that the real test of a simple statement is whether it honors the full truth from which it springs.
His life gives this claim weight. Trained as a theologian and musician, he later became a physician and founded a hospital in Lambarene. Across these roles he sought unity between thought and action, culminating in his ethic of reverence for life. That principle is compact and memorable, yet it arose from a wide, disciplined attention to suffering, nature, and moral responsibility. Its power came not from clever phrasing but from fidelity to the broad truth it referenced.
The line about wit and truth challenges a culture that prizes cleverness, novelty, and the quick retort. Wit can delight and sharpen attention, but it is not a measure of reliability. An argument can be dazzling and still be false; a phrase can be catchy and still mislead. Schweitzer urges a reversal of values: let truth set the standard, and let eloquence serve it rather than supplant it.
The claim also maps onto science, education, and ethics. Good scientific models simplify without distorting the underlying system. Good teachers distill concepts without amputating their complexity. Good moral discourse avoids tidy answers that ignore inconvenient facts. The goal is not to make everything short, but to express what is real in forms that are honest, accessible, and accountable to the whole.
Schweitzer offers a rule for thinking and speaking: seek the form that is as simple as the truth allows, keep it tethered to the whole, and prize accuracy over showmanship.
His life gives this claim weight. Trained as a theologian and musician, he later became a physician and founded a hospital in Lambarene. Across these roles he sought unity between thought and action, culminating in his ethic of reverence for life. That principle is compact and memorable, yet it arose from a wide, disciplined attention to suffering, nature, and moral responsibility. Its power came not from clever phrasing but from fidelity to the broad truth it referenced.
The line about wit and truth challenges a culture that prizes cleverness, novelty, and the quick retort. Wit can delight and sharpen attention, but it is not a measure of reliability. An argument can be dazzling and still be false; a phrase can be catchy and still mislead. Schweitzer urges a reversal of values: let truth set the standard, and let eloquence serve it rather than supplant it.
The claim also maps onto science, education, and ethics. Good scientific models simplify without distorting the underlying system. Good teachers distill concepts without amputating their complexity. Good moral discourse avoids tidy answers that ignore inconvenient facts. The goal is not to make everything short, but to express what is real in forms that are honest, accessible, and accountable to the whole.
Schweitzer offers a rule for thinking and speaking: seek the form that is as simple as the truth allows, keep it tethered to the whole, and prize accuracy over showmanship.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
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