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Simone Weil

Simone Weil

Simone Weil (French pronunciation: [simɔn vɛj]; 3 February 1909 in Paris, France – 24 August 1943 in Ashford, Kent, England), was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist. Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to...
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To us, men of the West, a very strange thing happened at the turn of the century; without noticing it, we lost science, or at least the thing that had been called by that name for the last four centuries. What we now have in place of it is something different, radically different, and we don't know what it is. Nobody knows what it is.

To us, men of the West, a very strange thing happened at the turn of the century; without noticing it, we lost science, or at least the thing that had been called by that name for the last four centuries. What we now have in place of it is something different, radically different, and we don't know what it is. Nobody knows what it is.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 35267

Author:

There is something else which has the power to awaken us to the truth. It is the works of writers of genius. They give us, in the guise of fiction, something equivalent to the actual density of the real, that density which life offers us every day but which we are unable to grasp because we are amusing ourselves with lies.

There is something else which has the power to awaken us to the truth. It is the works of writers of genius. They give us, in the guise of fiction, something equivalent to the actual density of the real, that density which life offers us every day but which we are unable to grasp because we are amusing ourselves with lies.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 15029

Author:

Evil is neither suffering nor sin; it is both at the same time, it is something common to them both. For they are linked together; sin makes us suffer and suffering makes us evil, and this indissoluble complex of suffering and sin is the evil in which we are submerged against our will, and to our horror.

Evil is neither suffering nor sin; it is both at the same time, it is something common to them both. For they are linked together; sin makes us suffer and suffering makes us evil, and this indissoluble complex of suffering and sin is the evil in which we are submerged against our will, and to our horror.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 12884

Author:

It is only the impossible that is possible for God. He has given over the possible to the mechanics of matter and the autonomy of his creatures.

It is only the impossible that is possible for God. He has given over the possible to the mechanics of matter and the autonomy of his creatures.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 17387

Author:

The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil.

The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 36495

Author:

The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.

The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 29402

Author:

The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.

The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 12050

Author:

The proper method of philosophy consists in clearly conceiving the insoluble problems in all their insolubility and then in simply contemplating them, fixedly and tirelessly, year after year, without any hope, patiently waiting.

The proper method of philosophy consists in clearly conceiving the insoluble problems in all their insolubility and then in simply contemplating them, fixedly and tirelessly, year after year, without any hope, patiently waiting.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 30311

Author:

An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.

An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 3423

Author:

The future is made of the same stuff as the present.

The future is made of the same stuff as the present.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 16549

Author:

Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.

Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 10774

Author:

I can, therefore I am.

I can, therefore I am.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 13241

Author:

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 41111

Author:

To set up as a standard of public morality a notion which can neither be defined nor conceived is to open the door to every kind of tyranny.

To set up as a standard of public morality a notion which can neither be defined nor conceived is to open the door to every kind of tyranny.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 27345

Author:

Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being.

Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 21377

Author:

If we are suffering illness, poverty, or misfortune, we think we shall be satisfied on the day it ceases. But there too, we know it is false; so soon as one has got used to not suffering one wants something else.

If we are suffering illness, poverty, or misfortune, we think we shall be satisfied on the day it ceases. But there too, we know it is false; so soon as one has got used to not suffering one wants something else.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 11183

Author:

Learn to reject friendship, or rather the dream of friendship. To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art, or life (like aesthetic joys). I must refuse it in order to be worthy to receive it

Learn to reject friendship, or rather the dream of friendship. To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art, or life (like aesthetic joys). I must refuse it in order to be worthy to receive it

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 16388

Author:

Purity is the power to contemplate defilement.

Purity is the power to contemplate defilement.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 33160

Author:

It is an eternal obligation toward the human being not to let him suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.

It is an eternal obligation toward the human being not to let him suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 1864

Author:

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our life.

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our life.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 20511

Author:

Oppression that is clearly inexorable and invincible does not give rise to revolt but to submission.

Oppression that is clearly inexorable and invincible does not give rise to revolt but to submission.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 28844

Author:

Whenever a human being, through the commission of a crime, has become exiled from good, he needs to be reintegrated with it through suffering. The suffering should be inflicted with the aim of bringing the soul to recognize freely some day that its infliction was just.

Whenever a human being, through the commission of a crime, has become exiled from good, he needs to be reintegrated with it through suffering. The suffering should be inflicted with the aim of bringing the soul to recognize freely some day that its infliction was just.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 33137

Author:

Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.

Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 23955

Author:

What a country calls its vital economic interests are not the things which enable its citizens to live, but the things which enable it to make war. Petrol is more likely than wheat to be a cause of international conflict.

What a country calls its vital economic interests are not the things which enable its citizens to live, but the things which enable it to make war. Petrol is more likely than wheat to be a cause of international conflict.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 41112

Author:

When once a certain class of people has been placed by the temporal and spiritual authorities outside the ranks of those whose life has value, then nothing comes more naturally to men than murder.

When once a certain class of people has been placed by the temporal and spiritual authorities outside the ranks of those whose life has value, then nothing comes more naturally to men than murder.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 27551

Author:

The only hope of socialism resides in those who have already brought about in themselves, as far as is possible in the society of today, that union between manual and intellectual labor which characterizes the society we are aiming at.

The only hope of socialism resides in those who have already brought about in themselves, as far as is possible in the society of today, that union between manual and intellectual labor which characterizes the society we are aiming at.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 36690

Author:

When a man's life is destroyed or damaged by some wound or privation of soul or body, which is due to other men's actions or negligence, it is not only his sensibility that suffers but also his aspiration toward the good. Therefore there has been sacrilege towards that which is sacred in him.

When a man's life is destroyed or damaged by some wound or privation of soul or body, which is due to other men's actions or negligence, it is not only his sensibility that suffers but also his aspiration toward the good. Therefore there has been sacrilege towards that which is sacred in him.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 40524

Author:

I suffer more from the humiliations inflicted by my country than from those inflicted on her.

I suffer more from the humiliations inflicted by my country than from those inflicted on her.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 27916

Author:

It would seem that man was born a slave, and that slavery is his natural condition. At the same time nothing on earth can stop man from feeling himself born for liberty. Never, whatever may happen, can he accept servitude; for he is a thinking creature.

It would seem that man was born a slave, and that slavery is his natural condition. At the same time nothing on earth can stop man from feeling himself born for liberty. Never, whatever may happen, can he accept servitude; for he is a thinking creature.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 23292

Author:

When a contradiction is impossible to resolve except by a lie, then we know that it is really a door.

When a contradiction is impossible to resolve except by a lie, then we know that it is really a door.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 32523

Author:

Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.

Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 29058

Author:

When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man's name live for thousands of years. But above this level, far above,

When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man's name live for thousands of years. But above this level, far above,

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 263

Author:

Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand.

Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 28845

Author:

Why is it that reality, when set down untransposed in a book, sounds false?

Why is it that reality, when set down untransposed in a book, sounds false?

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 33590

Author:

Every time that I think of the crucifixion of Christ, I commit the sin of envy.

Every time that I think of the crucifixion of Christ, I commit the sin of envy.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 21632

Author:

Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link.

Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 7347

Author:

With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.

With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 36931

Author:

The needs of a human being are sacred. Their satisfaction cannot be subordinated either to reasons of state, or to any consideration of money, nationality, race, or color, or to the moral or other value attributed to the human being in question, or to any consideration whatsoever.

The needs of a human being are sacred. Their satisfaction cannot be subordinated either to reasons of state, or to any consideration of money, nationality, race, or color, or to the moral or other value attributed to the human being in question, or to any consideration whatsoever.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 1863

Author:

We must prefer real hell to an imaginary paradise.

We must prefer real hell to an imaginary paradise.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 29096

Author:

The contemporary form of true greatness lies in a civilization founded on the spirituality of work.

The contemporary form of true greatness lies in a civilization founded on the spirituality of work.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 42352

Author:

There is no detachment where there is no pain. And there is no pain endured without hatred or lying unless detachment is present too.

There is no detachment where there is no pain. And there is no pain endured without hatred or lying unless detachment is present too.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 29059

Author:

Mathematics alone make us feel the limits of our intelligence. For we can always suppose in the case of an experiment that it is inexplicable because we don't happen to have all the data. In mathematics we have all the data and yet we don't understand. We always come back to the contemplation of our human wretchedness. What force is in relation to our will, the impenetrable opacity of mathematics is in relation to our intelligence.

Mathematics alone make us feel the limits of our intelligence. For we can always suppose in the case of an experiment that it is inexplicable because we don't happen to have all the data. In mathematics we have all the data and yet we don't understand. We always come back to the contemplation of our human wretchedness. What force is in relation to our will, the impenetrable opacity of mathematics is in relation to our intelligence.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 25717

Author:

To write the lives of the great in separating them from their works necessarily ends by above all stressing their pettiness, because it is in their work that they have put the best of themselves.

To write the lives of the great in separating them from their works necessarily ends by above all stressing their pettiness, because it is in their work that they have put the best of themselves.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 4294

Author:

The real stumbling-block of totalitarian r?gimes is not the spiritual need of men for freedom of thought; it is men's inability to stand the physical and nervous strain of a permanent state of excitement, except during a few years of their youth.

The real stumbling-block of totalitarian r?gimes is not the spiritual need of men for freedom of thought; it is men's inability to stand the physical and nervous strain of a permanent state of excitement, except during a few years of their youth.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 10724

Author:

I am not a Catholic; but I consider the Christian idea, which has its roots in Greek thought and in the course of the centuries has nourished all of our European civilization, as something that one cannot renounce without becoming degraded.

I am not a Catholic; but I consider the Christian idea, which has its roots in Greek thought and in the course of the centuries has nourished all of our European civilization, as something that one cannot renounce without becoming degraded.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 6648

Author:

The appetite for power, even for universal power, is only insane when there is no possibility of indulging it; a man who sees the possibility opening before him and does not try to grasp it, even at the risk of destroying himself and his country, is either

The appetite for power, even for universal power, is only insane when there is no possibility of indulging it; a man who sees the possibility opening before him and does not try to grasp it, even at the risk of destroying himself and his country, is either

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 31767

Author:

Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.

Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 3942

Author:

If Germany, thanks to Hitler and his successors, were to enslave the European nations and destroy most of the treasures of their past, future historians would certainly pronounce that she had civilized Europe.

If Germany, thanks to Hitler and his successors, were to enslave the European nations and destroy most of the treasures of their past, future historians would certainly pronounce that she had civilized Europe.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 6978

Author:

For when two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting, and when friends are far apart there is no separation.

For when two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting, and when friends are far apart there is no separation.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 16389

Author:

To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.

To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 31768

Author:

One cannot imagine St. Francis of Assisi talking about rights.

One cannot imagine St. Francis of Assisi talking about rights.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 34643

Author:

Nothing is less instructive than a machine.

Nothing is less instructive than a machine.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 25115

Author:

Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.

Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 19604

Author:

In solitude we are in the presence of mere matter (even the sky, the stars, the moon, trees in blossom), things of less value (perhaps) than a human spirit. Its value lies in the greater possibility of attention.

In solitude we are in the presence of mere matter (even the sky, the stars, the moon, trees in blossom), things of less value (perhaps) than a human spirit. Its value lies in the greater possibility of attention.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 36849

Author:

A mind enclosed in language is in prison.

A mind enclosed in language is in prison.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 22440

Author:

The mysteries of faith are degraded if they are made into an object of affirmation and negation, when in reality they should be an object of contemplation.

The mysteries of faith are degraded if they are made into an object of affirmation and negation, when in reality they should be an object of contemplation.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 14057

Author:

Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.

Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 12739

Author:

Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.

Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 3431

Author:

In struggling against anguish one never produces serenity; the struggle against anguish only produces new forms of anguish.

In struggling against anguish one never produces serenity; the struggle against anguish only produces new forms of anguish.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 18022

Author:

Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.

Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.

Subjects:

QuotationsBook ID:

  • 20510

Author:

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