Simone Weil

"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."

6 likes

Source: Simone Weil (2015). “Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings”, p.226, Wipf and Stock Publishers

About the author

Simone Weil

Simone Weil

Philosopher, Activist

Simone Weil was a French philosopher and political activist known for her profound insights on attention, suffering, and the human condition.

All quotes by Simone Weil →

Same author

More quotes by Simone Weil

See all →
Simone Weil Philosopher, Activist

"Pain and suffering are a kind of currency passed from hand to hand until they reach someone who receives them but does not pass them on."

Read quote
Simone Weil Philosopher, Activist

"Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand."

Read quote
Simone Weil Philosopher, Activist

"Just as the power of the sun is the only force in the natural universe that causes a plant to grow against gravity, so the grace of God is the only force in the spiritual universe that causes a person to grow against the gravity of their own ego."

Read quote