“Whenever one tries to suppress doubt, there is tyranny.”

— Simone Weil

Lectures in philosophy [Leçons de philosophie] (1959) as translated by Hugh Price p. 103

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Simone Weil 193

French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist 1909–1943

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“As for myself, I report more things than I believe; for I cannot bring myself to vouch for that which I am in doubt, nor to suppress what I have heard.”
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Context: The right of a nation to kill a tyrant, in cases of necessity, can no more be doubted, than to hang a robber, or kill a flea. But killing one tyrant only makes way for worse, unless the people have sense, spirit and honesty enough to establish and support a constitution guarded at all points against the tyranny of the one, the few, and the many. Let it be the study, therefore, of lawgivers and philosophers, to enlighten the people's understandings and improve their morals, by good and general education; to enable them to comprehend the scheme of government, and to know upon what points their liberties depend; to dissipate those vulgar prejudices and popular superstitions that oppose themselves to good government; and to teach them that obedience to the laws is as indispensable in them as in lords and kings.

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one. What is most repellent in the System of Nature [of d'Holbach] — after the recipe for making eels from flour — is the audacity with which it decides that there is no God, without even having tried to prove the impossibility.”

Voltaire Oeuvres de Voltaire

Le doute n'est pas un état bien agréable, mais l'assurance est un état ridicule.
Ce qui révolte le plus dans le Système de la nature ( après la façon de faire des anguilles avec de la farine), c'est l'audace avec laquelle il décide qu'il n'y a point de Dieu , sans avoir seulement tenté d'en prouver l'impossibilité.
Letter to Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (28 November 1770). English: in S.G. Tallentyre (ed.), Voltaire in His Letters. New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919. p. 232. French: Au prince royal de prusse, le 28 novembre, in M. Palissot (ed.), Oeuvres de Voltaire: Lettres Choisies du Roi de Prusse et de M. de Voltaire, Tome II. Paris : Chez Baudoiun, 1802. p. 419
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“Whenever you doubt what you are doing, remember to love what you have. Remember to love what you do. Remember to love what you give.”

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Original: (it) Ogniqualvolta dovessi dubitare di ciò che stai facendo, ricorda di amare ciò che hai. Ricorda di amare ciò che fai. Ricorda di amare ciò che dai.
Source: prevale.net

“Whenever one tries to suppress doubt, there is tyranny.”

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Simone Weil 193

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