Weil, Simone

"Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer."

"The soul's deepest need is to be known and loved."

"Gravity and grace are the two fundamental principles."

"The beautiful is what we seek through suffering."

"Affliction is the sole source of the sacred."

"To be fully present is to be fully alive."

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too?"

"The first principle of true teaching is that nothing worth knowing can be taught."

"Power without love is reckless and love without power is sentimental."

"Idleness is not a vice; it is a virtue."

"The only way to freedom is through obedience."

"Science is a partition of the infinite."

"Mathematics is the lowest rung of the ladder of beauty."

"Pure knowledge is not possible without pure love."

"Time and again, the morally unthinkable has become the customary."

"Grace fills empty spaces, but it cannot enter a space that is occupied."

"Supernatural virtue is the only real virtue."

"Perfection is not just about doing things right, but choosing the right things to do."

"The danger of the past is that it haunts our future."

"Courage is the form that love takes when faced with injustice."

"Change requires both patience and persistence."

"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity."

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled."

"Truth is like a jewel; it requires no setting to shine."

"To be free is not to be able to do anything, but to be responsible."

"Music is perhaps the last refuge for the human spirit."

"Work is the nearest thing we know to prayer."

"Hope is a contradiction that cannot help but persevere."

"The human soul is hungry for the infinite."

"Humility is not degradation; it is the recognition of the truth."