“Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing. That is, if the one giving the example is not saying to himself, 'Behold I am giving an example.' That spoils it. Anyone thinking of the example he will give to others has lost his simplicity. Only as a man has simplicity can his example influence others.”

— Albert Schweitzer

Sometimes presented in paraphrased form, such as "Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing" https://books.google.com/books?id=5Za7o6teOHoC&pg=PR18&dq=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22+schweitzer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFh4m9vqvMAhUG02MKHRqZDtsQ6AEIMzAE#v=onepage&q=%22example%20is%20not%20the%20main%20thing%22%20&f=false.
God's Own Man (1952)

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Do you have more details about the quote "Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing. That is, if the one giving the example is not saying to himself, '…" by Albert Schweitzer?

Albert Schweitzer 126

French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosoph… 1875–1965

Related quotes

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

The original: "Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing. That is, if the one giving the example is not saying to himself, 'Behold I am giving an example." That spoils it. Anyone thinking of the example he will give to others has lost his simplicity. Only as a man has simplicity can his example influence others" is a quote by Albert Schweitzer, from a 1952 interview in United Nations World magazine https://books.google.com/books?id=qTAoAAAAMAAJ&q=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22&dq=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz7f_2v6vMAhUJxmMKHeEAB-QQ6AEIHDAA. Not attributed to Einstein until the 1990s https://books.google.com/books?id=JdRZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22+einstein&dq=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22+einstein&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwif56qcwqvMAhXGMGMKHST5DRIQ6AEIHTAA.
Misattributed

“He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.”

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author

“The best way to describe anyone is to give an example of the kind of thing he would do.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

In Joy Still Felt (1980), p. 499
General sources

“Come on, readers, give me one example of a question that religion has answered to everyone’s satisfaction—one example of a “truth” found in religion’s quest for truth.”

Jerry Coyne (1949) American biologist

" Do both science and faith produce truth? http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/do-both-science-and-faith-produce-truth/" August 11, 2012