“To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.”
Power
“In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.”
PowerAll Quotes by Simone Weil
“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“Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.”
Power“If Germany, thanks to Hitler and his successors, were to enslave the European nations and destroy most of the treasures of their past, future historians would certainly pronounce that she had civilized Europe.”
Future“The contemporary form of true greatness lies in a civilization founded on the spirituality of work.”
Work“The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.”
Teacher“Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.”
Great“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.”
Faith“The role of the intelligence - that part of us which affirms and denies and formulates opinions is merely to submit.”
Intelligence“A test of what is real is that it is hard and rough. Joys are found in it, not pleasure. What is pleasant belongs to dreams.”
Dreams“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“Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.”
Knowledge“What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.”
War“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“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“Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.”
Beauty“Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.”
God“I can, therefore I am.”
Motivational“In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.”
Power“Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.”
Imagination