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
giving evolution oppression
The whole evolution of present-day society tends to develop the various forms of bureaucratic oppression and to give them a sort of autonomy in regard to capitalism as such.
oppression appearance economics
What is surprising is not that oppression should make its appearance only after higher forms of economy have been reached, but that it should always accompany them.
crush sides oppression
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.
teamwork taken sorrow
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.
men giving debt
Men owe us what they imagine they will give us. We must forgive them this debt.
pride men intelligent
The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.
felt power
Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.
culture instrument teachers
Culture is an instrument wielded by teachers to manufacture teachers, who, in their turn, will manufacture still more teachers.
peace war wheat
Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.
truth dwelling long
The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.
innocence ifs
What hope is there for innocence if it is not recognized?
past entering eternity
Death. An instantaneous state, without past or future. Indispensable for entering eternity.
loyalty spring law
There can be a true grandeur in any degree of submissiveness, because it springs from loyalty to the laws and to an oath, and not from baseness of soul.
art wine fabrication
Most works of art, like most wines, ought to be consumed in the district of their fabrication.