Explore Quotes by Simone Weil

A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.

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

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

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.

Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought.

A mind enclosed in language is in prison.

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

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.

We must prefer real hell to an imaginary paradise.

To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.

Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.

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.

The danger is not lest the soul should doubt whether there is any bread, but lest, by a lie, it should persuade itself that it is not hungry.

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

The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.

As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers with approving smiles.

Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.

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

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.

Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.

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