The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.

The line frames human purpose not as self-fulfillment, status, or pleasure, but as outward-directed moral action: service grounded in compassion and expressed through practical help. It condenses Schweitzer’s broader ethic—often summarized as “Reverence for Life”—into a social imperative: recognizing the value of other lives should lead to concrete assistance and sympathetic regard. The pairing of “compassion” with “the will to help” emphasizes that feeling alone is insufficient; ethical life requires intention and effort. Read this way, the quote functions as a secular moral maxim compatible with religious charity, humanitarian medicine, and civic responsibility.