“Stars and blossoming fruit-trees: utter permanence and extreme fragility give an equal sense of eternity.”

— Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace, 1947

About Simone Weil

1909 – 1943

French philosopher and political activist.

“The development of the faculty of attention forms the real object and almost the sole interest of studies.”

“I also am other than what I imagine myself to be. To know this is forgiveness.”

“Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”