“The reality of this world is necessity. The part of man which is in this world is the part which is in bondage to necessity and subject to the misery of need.”

—  Simone Weil

Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation (1943)
Context: The respect inspired by the link between man and the reality alien to this world can make itself evident to that part of man which belongs to the reality of this world.
The reality of this world is necessity. The part of man which is in this world is the part which is in bondage to necessity and subject to the misery of need.
The one possibility of indirect expression of respect for the human being is offered by men's needs, the needs of the soul and of the body, in this world.

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Simone Weil photo
Simone Weil 193
French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist 1909–1943

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