We can only know one thing about God - that he is what we are not. Our wretchedness alone is an image of this. The more we contemplate it, the more we contemplate him. Simone Weil on alone
To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life. Simone Weil on art
Most works of art, like most wines, ought to be consumed in the district of their fabrication. Simone Weil on art
Beauty always promises, but never gives anything. Simone Weil on beauty
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. Simone Weil on beauty
To write the lives of the great in separating them from their works necessarily ends by above all stressing their pettiness, because it is in their work that they have put the best of themselves. Simone Weil on best
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. Simone Weil on communication
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. Simone Weil on dreams
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. Simone Weil on equality
Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings. Simone Weil on equality
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. Simone Weil on faith
An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God. Simone Weil on faith
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. Simone Weil on fear
To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life. Simone Weil on friendship
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. Simone Weil on future
The future is made of the same stuff as the present. Simone Weil on future
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. Simone Weil on god
A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless. Simone Weil on god
Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does. Simone Weil on god
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions reality can be attained only by someone who is detached. Simone Weil on great