Born in Paris to an affluent Jewish family, writer and philosopher Simone Adolphine Weil (1909–1943) was called “a woman of genius akin to that of the saints” by writer T.S. Eliot and “the saint of all outsiders” by author André Gide.

Her classmate Simone de Beauvoir observed that Weil had “a heart that could beat right across the world.”

In praise of the individual spirit and strength, Weil affirmed, “I can, therefore I am.”

Considered a brilliant mystic, much of her work explored the ways God touches the lives of humanity. “It is not religion, but revolution which is the opium of the people,” she observed.

Weil taught philosophy at several lycées in France until 1937. She was unconventional, passionate, and inspirational. “All sins,” she said, “are attempts to fill voids.”

An advocate of social justice, she believed self-sacrifice led to spiritual enlightenment, and let her actions speak louder than her words.

Taking a sabbatical from teaching, she worked in a factory (1934–35), joined the Spanish Republican Army (1936), and became a farm laborer (1941) to gain deeper empathy for the working class.

“We should do only those righteous actions which we cannot stop ourselves from doing,” she said, living a life of conviction decades ahead of her time.

About her generosity to humanity, philosopher George Grant said, “With Simone Weil you have to combine this staggeringly clear intellect with something that is quite beyond the intellect, namely sanctity. And I mean by saint those beings who give themselves away.”

One of the most compelling spirits of the 20th century, Simone Weil was an extraordinary fusion of intellect, empathy, and moral courage. She didn’t just think philosophy...she lived it. With a fierce hunger for truth, she was a mystic of integrity.