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From the power to transform him into a thing by killing him there proceeds another power, and much more prodigious, that which makes a thing of him while he still lives.

— Simone Weil Simone Weil : An Anthology (1986)

Du pouvoir de transformer un homme en chose en le faisant mourir procède un autre pouvoir, et bien autrement prodigieux, celui de faire une chose d'un homme qui reste vivant.

Original text (French)

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More quotes by Simone Weil

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

The most important part of education — to teach the meaning of to know (in the scientific sense).

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An imaginary perfection is automatically at the same level as I who imagine it — neither higher nor lower.

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Men of the most brilliant intelligence can be born, live and die in error and falsehood.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Simone Weil (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.