The Need for Roots Quotes

“The spirit of truth can dwell in science on condition that the motive prompting the savant is the love of the object that forms the stuff of his investigations. That object is the universe in which we live. What can we find to love about it, if it isn't its beauty? The true definition of science is this: the study of the beauty of the world.”
― Simone Weil, The Need for Roots

“The savants insist that the public should regard science with that religious respect which is owed to truth, and the public accepts to do so. But it is being deceived. Science is not a fruit of the spirit of the truth, and this is obvious as soon as one looks into the matter.”
― Simone Weil, The Need for Roots

“Generally speaking, the most serious mistakes, those which warp completely the mental processes, destroy the soul, placing it outside the reach of truth and goodness, cannot be discerned. For they are caused by the fact that certain things escape the scrutiny of the mind. If they escape such scrutiny, how could they be scrutinised, however hard one were to try? That is why truth is, in essence, a supernatural good.”
― Simone Weil, The Need for Roots