Quotessence
Home / Authors / Simone Weil
Simone Weil

Simone Weil Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllHumansMenIfsSoulWorldAttentionKnowsSufferingThinkingDoeShouldEvilOrderRealStatesFormGivingHuman BeingsNeedsPeople

Famous Simone Weil Quotes

“Christ himself came down and took possession of me. . . I had never foreseen the possibility of that, of a real contact, person to person, here below, between a human being and God. . . in this sudden possession of me by Christ, neither my sense nor my imagination had any part: I only felt in the midst of my suffering the presence of a love.”

HumansPersonsRealSufferingFeltChristImaginationHuman BeingsChristianityPossibilityDown AndPossessionContactMidstMy ImaginationChristian LoveForeseen
Book:The Simone Weil Reader
Create image

“Moreover, nothing is so rare as to see misfortune fairly portrayed; the tendency is either to treat the unfortunate person as though catastrophe were his natural vocation, or to ignore the effects of misfortune on the soul, to assume, that is, that the soul can suffer and remain unmarked by it, can fail, in fact, to be recast in misfortune's image.”

PersonsSoulFactsSufferingNaturalFailingEffectsTreatsAssumingTendenciesMisfortunesUnfortunateCatastropheVocation
Book:War and the Iliad
Create image

“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.”

Has BeensFactsUseMovingSufferingLanguageSoundForgetCuttingHeardEarsLipsTongueCertaintyPerceiveImpotenceUse Of Language
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
Create image

“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
Create image

“A man whose mind feels that it is captive would prefer to blind himself to the fact. But if he hates falsehood, he will not do so; and in that case he will have to suffer a lot. He will beat his head against the wall until he faints. He will come to again”

IfsMenFeelsMindFactsSufferingHateCasesWallBeatsEnlightenmentBlindFalsehoodCaptives
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
Create image

“When a man's life is destroyed or damaged by some wound or privation of soul or body, which is due to other men's actions or negligence, it is not only his sensibility that suffers but also his aspiration toward the good. Therefore there has been sacrilege towards that which is sacred in him.”

MenHas BeensSoulBodyActionLife IsSufferingSacredDuesWoundsDestroyedAspirationSensibilityNegligenceSacrilege
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
Create image