...nothing on earth can stop man from feeling himself born for liberty. Never, whatever may happen, can he accept servitude; for he is a thinking creature.
Interpretation
The desire for freedom is an inherent part of human nature, and true servitude is fundamentally rejected by those who think.
Simone Weil emphasizes the intrinsic human yearning for liberty, suggesting that no external force can extinguish this deep-seated instinct. As thinking beings, people resist subjugation and are driven by an innate sense of purpose and autonomy, making true servitude unacceptable.
In practice
In a speech about civil rights, one might use this quote to emphasize the human spirit's need for freedom.
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?
Why does man regret, even though he may endeavour to banish any such regret, that he has followed the one natural impulse, rather than the other; and why does he further feel that he ought to regret his conduct? Man in this respect differs profoundly from the lower animals.
Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.
Animals don't know as much about jealousy as people, but they're not ignorant of it, either.
There may be more poetry than justice in poetic justice.
Gentlemen, I am tormented by questions; answer them for me.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one, that is (There are a few thousand to choose from. But I was born in a country where the dominant religion was Christianity so I believed in that one. Isn't it weird how that always happens?). Luckily I was also interested in science and nature. And reason and logic. And honesty and truth. And equality and fairness. By the age of eight I was an atheist.
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