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Simone Weil

Simone Weil Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Simone Weil Quotes

“Humility consists of knowing that in this world the whole soul, not only what we term the ego in its totality, but also the supernatural part of the soul, which is God present in it, is subject to time and to the vicissitudes of change. There must be absolutely acceptance of the possibility that everything material in us should be destroyed. But we must simultaneously accept and repudiate the possibility that the supernatural part of the soul should disappear.”

WorldShouldSoulWholeTermAcceptingKnowingSubjectsPossibilityThis WorldAcceptanceHumilityMaterialsEgoDisappearDestroyedTotalityVicissitudes
Author:Simone Weil
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“The authentic and pure values, truth, beauty, and goodness, in the activity of a human being are the result of one and the same act, a certain application of the full attention to the object. Teaching should have no aim but to prepare, by training the attention, for the possibility of such an act. All the other advantages of instruction are without interest.”

ShouldHumansCertainValuesInterestHuman BeingsResultsAttentionTeachingPossibilityObjectsTruth IsPureActivityGoodnessTrainingAdvantageShould HaveAimApplicationInstruction
Book:Gravity and Grace
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“It is not enough that France should be regarded as a country which enjoys the remains of a freedom acquired long ago. If she is still to count in the world--and if she does not intend to, she may as well perish--she must be seen by her own citizens and by all men as an ever-flowing source of liberty. There must not be a single genuine lover of freedom in the whole world who can have a valid reason for hating France.”

IfsMenWorldShouldWellsMayLongDoeStillsCountryReasonEnoughWholeHateEnjoyLibertySourceLoversCitizensRemainsGenuineWhole WorldFranceLong Ago
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
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“Whenever a human being, through the commission of a crime, has become exiled from good, he needs to be reintegrated with it through suffering. The suffering should be inflicted with the aim of bringing the soul to recognize freely some day that its infliction was just.”

NeedsShouldHumansSoulSufferingHuman BeingsCrimeAimPunishmentInfliction
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
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