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.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that every individual has qualities that make them either unworthy of suffering or too valuable to be subjected to it.
Simone Weil reflects on the inherent value of every human being, suggesting that regardless of their individual qualities, there is always a compelling reason to believe that sorrow and misfortune do not befit them. This perspective highlights the complexity of human experience, emphasizing both the universality of suffering and the preciousness of individual lives, leading us to reconsider our notions of worth and suffering in the human condition.
In practice
In a discussion about human resilience, this quote can serve as a reminder of our intrinsic worth.
The afflicted are not listened to. They are like someone whose tongue has been cut out and who occasionally forgets the fact. When they move their lips no ear perceives any sound. And they themselves soon sink into impotence in the use of language, because of the certainty of not being heard.
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
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.
Evil is license, and that is why it is monotonous: everything has to be drawn from ourselves. One is condemned to false infinity. That is hell itself.
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.
How many people have been thus led, through lack of self-confidence, to stifle their most justified doubts?
He told us that most of us would die violently, and those who did not would be brought down to the level of beasts.
Our age is essentially one of understanding and reflection, without passion, momentarily bursting into enthusiasm and shrewdly relapsing into repose.
Whoever be the instruments of any good to us, of whatever sort, we must look above them, and eye the hand and counsel of God in it, which is the first spring, and be duly thankful to God for it. And whatever evil of crosses or afflictions befalls us, we must look above the instruments of it to God.
There are few people so stubborn in their atheism who, when danger is pressing in, will not acknowledge the divine power.
Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame.
I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French.
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