“When intelligent people pride themselves on not understanding, it is quite natural they should succeed better than fools.”
“An Unprejudiced Mind,” p. 346
Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality (1964)
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André Gide 74
French novelist and essayist 1869–1951Related quotes
As quoted in the Introduction (by Siân Miles)
Source: Simone Weil : An Anthology (1986), p. 35
Source: Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (1523), p. 89
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.”
J'ai toujours vu que, pour réussir dans le monde, il fallait avoir l'air fou et être sage.
Pensées Diverses
"Free Weeds" in National Review (29 June 2004).
Context: Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great.
The laws concerning marijuana aren't exactly indefensible, because practically nothing is, and the thunderers who tell us to stay the course can always find one man or woman who, having taken marijuana, moved on to severe mental disorder.
But that argument, to quote myself, is on the order of saying that every rapist began by masturbating.
General rules based on individual victims are unwise.
And although there is a perfectly respectable case against using marijuana, the penalties imposed on those who reject that case, or who give way to weakness of resolution, are very difficult to defend.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, ch. 2 (1912).
“When the world’s run by fools it’s the duty of intelligence to disobey.”
Quoted in The Guardian (25 February 2006).
