“From modern thought to ancient wisdom the path would be short and direct, if one cared to take it.”

—  Simone Weil , book The Need for Roots

The Need for Roots (1949), p. 292
Context: Concern for the symbol has completely disappeared from our science. And yet, if one were to give oneself the trouble, one could easily find, in certain parts at least of contemporary mathematics... symbols as clear, as beautiful, and as full of spiritual meaning as that of the circle and mediation. From modern thought to ancient wisdom the path would be short and direct, if one cared to take it.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "From modern thought to ancient wisdom the path would be short and direct, if one cared to take it." by Simone Weil?
Simone Weil photo
Simone Weil 193
French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist 1909–1943

Related quotes

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar photo

“The key is to harness the ancient wisdom and being innovative with the modern.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (1956) spiritual leader

The Hindustan Times (Nov., 2009)
Context: Pluralism and embracing people of all cultures should be part of our education. The multicultural, multi-religious fabric are the glory and beauty of the planet. If this thought is imparted to children at an early age, they will love the difference. We need to bring about that multi-cultural and multi-ethnic approach, which in Sanskrit we call Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The whole world is one family.)
Through right education, we can change and unite the hearts and minds of people. The key is to harness the ancient wisdom and being innovative with the modern. We, as global citizens, should vow to take this responsibility.

Gautama Buddha photo

“(…) Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of aging & death, direct knowledge of the origination of aging & death, direct knowledge of the cessation of aging & death, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of aging & death. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth… becoming… clinging… craving… feeling… contact… the six sense media… name-&-form… consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

Nagara Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya II.124, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Pali Canon, Sutta Pitaka, Samyutta Nikaya (Connected Discourses)

Prevale photo

“Always take care of the emotions. They are the ones who shed light on the arduous path of life.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Abbi sempre cura delle emozioni. Sono loro a far luce sull'arduo percorso della vita.
Source: prevale.net

Adlai Stevenson photo

“I believe in the infinite wisdom that envelops and embraces me and from which I take direction, purpose, strength.”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

Essay in This I Believe : 2 (1952) edited by Edward R. Murrow, p. 142
Context: What do I believe? As an American I believe in generosity, in liberty, in the rights of man. These are social and political faiths that are part of me, as they are, I suppose, part of all of us. Such beliefs are easy to express. But part of me too is my relation to all life, my religion. And this is not so easy to talk about. Religious experience is highly intimate and, for me, ready words are not at hand. I am profoundly aware of the magnitude of the universe, that all is ruled by law, including my finite person. I believe in the infinite wisdom that envelops and embraces me and from which I take direction, purpose, strength.

Morarji Desai photo

“The vegetarian movement is an ancient movement and is not quite a modern one.”

Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Former Indian Finance Minister, Freedom Fighters, Former prime minister

19th World Vegetarian Congress 1967

Juhani Pallasmaa photo

“I fear that wisdom is disappearing from modern experience where everything becomes just information. Information is not wisdom. Wisdom is when things are integrated into a historical continuum and one’s personal life experience.”

Juhani Pallasmaa (1936) Finnish architect

The Aura of the Sacred lecture Juhani Pallasmaa's Agora lecture "Christianity as Secularisation" (15 August 2012).

Dejan Stojanovic photo

“The same word we love and hate, leaves in different directions, taking different paths.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

“A Word,” p. 54
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “A Stone and a Word”

Octavio Paz photo

“No one behind, no one ahead.
The path the ancients cleared has closed.
And the other path, everyone's path,
easy and wide, goes nowhere.
I am alone and find my way.”

Octavio Paz (1914–1998) Mexican writer laureated with the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature
Samuel Butler photo

“We are too fond of seeing the ancients as one thing and the moderns as another.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Ancient Work
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XII - The Enfant Terrible of Literature
Context: If a person would understand either the Odyssey or any other ancient work, he must never look at the dead without seeing the living in them, nor at the living without thinking of the dead. We are too fond of seeing the ancients as one thing and the moderns as another.

Ken Wilber photo

“This would be something added to one's religion, not subtracted from it. The only thing it would subtract (and there's no way around this) is the belief that one's own path is the only true path to salvation.”

Ken Wilber (1949) American writer and public speaker

An Integral Spirituality
Context: Attunement could occur through any of the great religions, but would be tied exclusively to none of them. A person could be attuned to an "integral spirituality" while still be a practicing Christian, Buddhist, New-Age advocate, or Neopagan. This would be something added to one's religion, not subtracted from it. The only thing it would subtract (and there's no way around this) is the belief that one's own path is the only true path to salvation.

Related topics