Quotes from Simone Weil

Nothing is more comfortable than not having to think.

We have invented the distinction between justice and charity. It is easy to understand why. Our notion of justice dispenses him who possesses from the obligation of giving. If he gives all the same, he thinks he has a right to be pleased with himself.

Le danger n'est pas que l'âme doute s'il y a ou non du pain, mais qu'elle se persuade par un mensonge qu'elle n'a pas faim. Elle ne peut se le persuader que par un mensonge, car la réalité de sa faim n'est pas une croyance, c'est une certitude.

Il faut éliminer le malheur autant qu'on le peut de la vie sociale, car le malheur ne sert qu'à la grâce et la société n'est pas une société d'élus. Il y aura toujours assez de malheur pour les élus.

We have to believe in a God who is like the true God in everything except that he does not exist, for we have not reached the point where God exists.

If there is a real desire, if the thing desired is really light, the desire for light produces it

The destruction of Troy. The fall of petals from fruit trees in blossom. To know that what is most precious is not rooted in existence—that is beautiful. Why? It projects the soul beyond time.

Christ toujours présent entre deux vrais amis. Réciproquement la parole « Si deux ou trois.... » est la promesse de l'amitié humaine à ses amis.

Nearly everywhere- often when dealing with purely technical problems -instead of thinking, one merely takes sides- for or against. Such a choice replaces the activity of the mind. This is intellectual leprosy: it originated in the political world and then spread through the land, contaminating all forms of thinking. this leprosy is killing us; it is doubtful whether it can be cured without first starting with the abolition of all political parties.

Las mismas palabras [por ejemplo, un hombre dice a su mujer, te amo] pueden ser triviales o extraordinarias según la forma en que se digan. Y esa forma depende de la profundidad de la región en el ser de un hombre de donde procedan, sin que la voluntad pueda hacer nada. Y, por un maravilloso acuerdo, alcanzan la misma región en quien las escucha. De tal modo, el que escucha puede discernir, si tiene alguna capacidad de discernimiento, cuál es el valor de las palabras.

Comme la pensée collective ne peut exister comme pensée, elle passe dans les choses (signes, machines...). D'où ce paradoxe : c'est la chose qui pense et l'homme qui est réduit à l'état de chose

To say that the world is not worth anything, that this life is of no value and to give evil as the proof is absurd, for if these things are worthless what does evil take from us?

Une oeuvre d'art a un auteur, et pourtant, quand elle est parfaite, elle a quelque chose d'essentiellement anonyme. Elle imite l'anonymat de l'art divin. Ainsi la beauté du monde prouve un Dieu à la fois personnel et impersonnel, et ni l'un ni l'autre.

Every act should be considered from the point of view not of its object but of its impulsion. The question is not 'What is the aim?' It is 'What is the origin?

Those who are lacking in goodwill or who remain adolescent are never free under any form of society.

Zburzenie Troi. Opadaj?ce p?atki kwitn?cych drzew owocowych. Wiedzie?, ?e to, co najcenniejsze, nie jest zakorzenione w istnieniu. To pi?kne. Dlaczego? Przenosi dusz? poza czas.

Sólo pueden amarse quienes aceptan su posible distanciamiento, el espacio entre dos seres independientes que asumen sus propias soledades y que se acompañan mutuamente. Es la grieta entre dos soledades la que permite el acercamiento.

I hope this surrender, even if I am mistaken, will finally lead me to safe harbor. What I call safe harbor, as you know, is the Cross.

When authentic friends of God, such as Meister Eckhart in my opinion, repeat words they heard in secret amidst the silence during union with God, and are in disagreement with the teachings of the Church, it is simply that the language of the marketplace is not that of the nuptial chamber.

No existe elección de remedios. Solamente existe uno, uno solo. Una sola cosa hace soportable la monotonía, una luz de eternidad: es la belleza.

En tout cas le plus grand malheur pour nous serait de périr impuissants à la fois à réussir et à comprendre.

The intelligence can only be led by desire. For there to be desire, there must be pleasure and joy in the work. The intelligence only grows and bears fruit in joy. The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running.

It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to ourselves.

To claim either that only Christian miracles are authentic and all the others false, or that they alone are caused by God and all the rest by demons, is a miserable expedient. For it is an arbitrary claim, and hence, the miracles prove nothing. They themselves need to be proven since they receive a stamp of authenticity from the outside.