“Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.”
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.”
CommunicationAll Quotes by Simone Weil
“A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless.”
God“The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.”
Truth“To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.”
Art“I can, therefore I am.”
Motivational“The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.”
Intelligence“Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being.”
Intelligence“Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.”
History“Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.”
God“Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody really possesses it.”
Truth“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.”
Fear“Most works of art, like most wines, ought to be consumed in the district of their fabrication.”
Art“An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.”
Faith“Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.”
Beauty“Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.”
Great“Humility is attentive patience.”
Patience“Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.”
Power“More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.”
Respect“In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.”
Power“What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.”
War