21 quotes
We should have with each person the relationship of one conception of the universe to another conception of the universe, and not to a part of the universe.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
The simultaneous existence of opposite virtues in the soul — like pincers to catch hold of God.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Alexander is to a peasant proprietor what Don Juan is to a happily married husband.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
It is not religion but revolution which is the opium of the people.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Things of the senses are real if considered as perceptible things, but unreal if considered as goods.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
The soul is the human being considered as having a value in itself.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
Belief in the existence of other human beings as such is love.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
The spirit, overcome by the weight of quantity, has no longer any other criterion than efficiency.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
We must wish either for that which actually exists or for that which cannot in any way exist — or, still better, for both. That which is and that which cannot be are both outside the realm of becoming.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Capitalism has brought about the emancipation of collective humanity with respect to nature. But this collective humanity has itself taken on with respect to the individual the oppressive function formerly exercised by nature.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
A lever. We lower when we want to lift. In the same way, “He who humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Gravity and Grace (1972)
Conformity is an imitation of grace.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
When we are the victims of illusion we do not feel it to be an illusion but a reality. It is the same perhaps with evil. Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Croire qu’on s’élève parce qu’en gardant les mêmes bas penchants (exemple : désir de l’emporter sur autrui) on leur a donné des objets élevés. On s’élèverait au contraire en attachant à des objets bas des penchants élevés.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Action is the pointer which shows the balance. We must not touch the pointer but the weight.
Gravity and Grace (1947)
Monotony of evil: never anything new, everything about it is equivalent. ... It is because of this monotony that quantity plays so great a part. A host of women (Don Juan) or of men (Célimène), etc.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
To love our neighbour as ourselves does not mean that we should love all people equally, for I do not have an equal love for all the modes of existence of myself. Nor does it mean that we should never make them suffer, for I do not refuse to make myself suffer.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
If we know what direction the scales of society are tilted we must do what we can to add weight to the lighter side. ... We must be always ready to change sides like Justice—that fugitive from the camp of conquerors.
Gravity and Grace (1972)
Revolt, if it does not immediately pass into definite and effective action, is always changed into its opposite through the feeling of utter impotence which results from it. In other words the chief support of the oppressor lies precisely in the unavailing revolt of the oppressed.
Gravity and Grace (1972)