Simone Weil Quotes
Simone Weil was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Trained in philosophy alongside Simone de Beauvoir, she taught at provincial lycees while spending vacations in factories, in the fields, and on the front lines of the Spanish Civil War in order to share the conditions of those she wrote about. The quotes below are attributed to Simone Weil, organized by topic.
Simone Weil on Freedom
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“Liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose.”
Simone Weil on Life
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.”
Simone Weil on Love
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“Love is not consolation. It is light.”
Simone Weil on Mind
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.”
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.”
Simone Weil on Virtue
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Attributed to Simone Weil:
“All sins are attempts to fill voids.”