Christians ought to suspect that affliction is the very essence of creation. To be a created thing is not necessarily to be afflicted, but it is necessarily to be exposed to affliction. ... Affliction is the surest sign that God wishes to be loved by us; it is the most precious evidence of His tenderness.
Simone WeilThe role of the intelligence - that part of us which affirms and denies and formulates opinions is merely to submit.
Simone WeilThe only hope of socialism resides in those who have already brought about in themselves, as far as is possible in the society of today, that union between manual and intellectual labor which characterizes the society we are aiming at.
Simone WeilIn struggling against anguish one never produces serenity; the struggle against anguish only produces new forms of anguish.
Simone WeilOf two men who have no experience of God, he who denies him is perhaps nearer to him than the other.
Simone WeilThose who keep the masses of men in subjection by exercising force and cruelty deprive them at once of two vital foods, liberty and obedience; for it is no longer within the power of such masses to accord their inner consent to the authority to which they are subjected. Those who encourage a state of things in which the hope of gain is the principle motive take away from men their obedience, for consent which is its essence is not something which can be sold.
Simone Weil