Simone Weil
Simone Weil
Simone Weil; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and political activist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth3 February 1909
CityParis, France
CountryFrance
real imagination suffering
Christ himself came down and took possession of me. . . I had never foreseen the possibility of that, of a real contact, person to person, here below, between a human being and God. . . in this sudden possession of me by Christ, neither my sense nor my imagination had any part: I only felt in the midst of my suffering the presence of a love.
lying greatness civilization
The contemporary form of true greatness lies in a civilization founded on the spirituality of work.
beauty beautiful justice
Justice, truth, and beauty are sisters and comrades. With three such beautiful words we have no need to look for any others.
struggle innovation opponents
The struggle between the opponents and defenders of capitalism is a struggle between innovators who do not know what innovation to make and conservatives who do not know what to conserve.
education real attention
The development of the faculty of attention forms the real object and almost the sole interest of studies.
science voiceless scientist
Science is voiceless; it is the scientists who talk.
beautiful spiritual circles
Concern for the symbol has completely disappeared from our science . And yet, if one were to give oneself the trouble, one could easily find, in certain parts at least of contemporary mathematics... symbols as clear, as beautiful, and as full of spiritual meaning as that of the circle and mediation. From modern thought to ancient wisdom the path would be short and direct, if one cared to take it.
christian civilization aggravation
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.
taken humanity individual
Capitalism has brought about the emancipation of collective humanity with respect to nature. But this collective humanity has itself taken on with respect to the individual the oppressive function formerly exercised by nature.
girl rights sound
If a young girl is being forced into a brothel she will not talk about her rights. In such a situation the word would sound ludicrously inadequate.
destiny ideas progress
Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.
men order victory
It is not the cause for which men took up arms that makes a victory more just or less, it is the order that is established when arms have been laid down.
country power men
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
power
To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.