Quotes by Simone Weil

Simone Weil

Simone Weil

French philosopher

Lived from: 1909 - 1943

Category: Philosophers Country: FlagFrance

Born: 3 february 1909 Died: 24 august 1943

  • An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.
  • Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this world but people capable of giving them their attention.
  • 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.
  • 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 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,
  • 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.
  • We are like horses who hurt themselves as soon as they pull on their bits - and we bow our heads. We even lose consciousness of the situation, we just submit. Any re-awakening of thought is then painful.
  • 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.
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  • Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.
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  • A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.
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  • A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.
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  • A man whose mind feels that it is captive would prefer to blind himself to the fact. But if he hates falsehood, he will not do so; and in that case he will have to suffer a lot. He will beat his head against the wall until he faints. He will come to again
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  • A mind enclosed in language is in prison.
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  • A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.
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  • A test of what is real is that it is hard and rough. Joys are found in it, not pleasure. What is pleasant belongs to dreams.
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  • An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.
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  • Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction.
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  • At the bottom of the heart of every human being, from earliest infancy until the tomb, there is something that goes on indomitably expecting, in the teeth of all experience of crimes committed, suffered, and witnessed, that good and not evil will be done
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  • Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.
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  • Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.
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  • Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.
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  • Culture is an instrument wielded by teachers to manufacture teachers, who, in their turn, will manufacture still more teachers.
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  • 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.
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  • Every new development for the last three centuries has brought men closer to a state of affairs in which absolutely nothing would be recognized in the whole world as possessing a claim to obedience except the authority of the State. The majority of people in Europe obey nothing else.
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  • Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.
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  • Every time that I think of the crucifixion of Christ, I commit the sin of envy.
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  • 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.
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  • Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody really possesses it.
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What are the most famous quotes from Simone Weil?

The two most famous quotes from Simone Weil are:

  • "Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge."
  • "A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines."

When did Simone Weil live?

Simone Weil was born in 1909 and died in the year 1943.