Reflections on the Right Use of School studies with a View to the Love of God

-Simone Weil
The key to a Christian concetion of studies is the reali!ation that rayer consists of
attention" #t is the orientation of all the attention of which the soul is caa$le toward
God" The %uality of the attention counts for much in the %uality of the rayer" Warmth
of heart cannot make u for it"
The highest art of the attention only makes contact with God& when rayer is intense
and ure enough for such a contact to $e esta$lished' $ut the whole attention is turned
toward God"
(f course school e)ercises only develo a lower kind of attention" *evertheless& they
are e)tremely effective in increasing the ower of attention that will $e availa$le at
the time of rayer& on the condition that they are carried out with a view to this
urose alone"
+lthough eole seem to $e unaware of it today& the develoment of the faculty of
attention forms the real o$,ect and almost the sole interest of studies" -ost school
tasks have a certain intrinsic interest as well& $ut such an interest is secondary" +ll
tasks that really call uon the ower of attention are interesting for the same reason
and to an almost e%ual degree"
School children and students who love God should never say. /0or my art # like
mathematics1' /# like 0rench1' /# like Greek"1 They should learn to like all these
su$,ects& $ecause all of them develo that faculty of attention which& directed toward
God& is the very su$stance of rayer"
#f we have no atitude or natural taste for geometry& this does not mean that our
faculty for attention will not $e develoed $y wrestling with a ro$lem or studying a
theorem" (n the contrary it is almost an advantage"
#t does not even matter much whether we succeed in finding the solution or
understanding the roof& although it is imortant to try really hard to do so" *ever in
any case whatever is a genuine effort of attention wasted" #t always has its effect on
the siritual lane and in conse%uences on the lower one of the intelligence& for all
siritual light lightens the mind"
#f we concentrate our attention on trying to solve a ro$lem of geometry& and if at the
end of an hour we are no nearer to doing so than at the $eginning& we have
nevertheless $een making rogress each minute of that hour in another more
mysterious dimension" Without knowing or feeling it& this aarently $arren effort has
$rought more light into the soul" The result will one day $e discovered in rayer"
-oreover& it may very likely $e felt in some deartment of the intelligence in no way
connected with mathematics" 2erhas he who made the unsuccessful effort will one
day $e a$le to gras the $eauty of a line of Racine more vividly on an account of it"
3ut it is certain that this effort will $ear its fruit in rayer" There is no dou$t whatever
a$out that"
Certainties of this kind are e)erimental" 3ut if we do not $elieve in them $efore
e)eriencing them& if at least we do not $ehave as though we $elieved in them& we
shall never have the e)erience that leads to such certainties" There is a kind of
contradiction here" +$ove a given level this is the case with all useful knowledge
concerning siritual rogress" #f we do not regulate our conduct $y it $efore having
roved it& if we do not hold on to it for a long time $y faith alone& a faith at first
stormy and without light& we shall never transform it into certainty" 0aith is the
indisensa$le condition"
The $est suort for faith is the guarantee that if we ask our 0ather for $read& he does
not give us stone" 4uite aart from e)licit religious $elief& every time that a human
$eing succeeds in making an effort of attention with the sole idea of increasing his
gras of truth& he ac%uires a greater atitude for grasing it& even if his effort roduces
no visi$le fruit" +n 5skimo story e)lains the origin of light as follows. /#n the eternal
darkness& the crow& una$le to find any food& longed light& and the earth was
illuminated"1 #f there is a real desire& if the thing desired is really light& the desire for
light roduces it" There is a real desire when there is an effort of attention" #t is really
light that is desired if all other incentives are a$sent" 5ven if our efforts of attention
seem for years to $e roducing no result& one day a light that is in e)act roortion to
them will flood the soul" 5very effort adds a little gold to a treasure no ower on earth
can take away" The useless efforts made $y the Cur6 d7+rs& for long and ainful
years& in his attemt to learn Latin $ore fruit in the marvellous discernment that
ena$led him to see the very soul of his enitents $ehind their words and even their
silences"
Students must therefore work without any wish to gain good marks& to ass
e)aminations& to win school successes' without any reference to their natural a$ilities
and tastes' alying themselves e%ually to all their tasks& with the idea that each one
will hel form in them the ha$it of that attention which is the su$stance of rayer"
When we set out to do a iece of work& it is necessary to wish to do it correctly&
$ecause such a wish is indisensa$le in any true effort" Underlying this immediate
o$,ective& however& our dee urose should aim solely at increasing the ower of
attention with a view to rayer' as& when we write& we draw the shae of a letter on
aer& not with a view to the shae& $ut with a view to the idea we want to e)ress" To
make this the sole and e)clusive urose of our studies is the first condition to $e
o$served if we are to ut them to the right use"
The second condition is to take great ains to e)amine s%uarely and contemlate
attentively and slowly each school task in which we have failed& seeing how
unleasing and second rate it is& without seeking any e)cuse or overlooking any
mistake or any of our tutor7s corrections& trying to get down to the origin of each fault"
There is a great temtation to do the oosite& to give a sideways glance at the
corrected e)ercise if it is $ad and to hide it forthwith" -ost of use do this nearly
always" We have to withstand this temtation" #ncidentally& moreover& nothing is more
necessary for academic success& $ecause& desite all our efforts& we work without
making much rogress when we refuse to give our attention to the faults we have
made and our tutor7s corrections"
+ll it is thus that we can ac%uire the virtue of humility& and that is a far more recious
treasure that all academic rogress" 0rom this oint of view it is erhas even more
useful to contemlate our stuidity that our sin" Consciousness of sin gives us the
feeling that we are evil& and a kind of ride sometimes finds a lace in it" When we
force ourselves to fi) the ga!e& not only of our eyes $ut of our souls& uon a school
e)ercise in which we have failed through sheer stuidity& a sense of our mediocrity is
$orne in uon us with irresisti$le evidence" *o knowledge is more to $e desired" #f we
can arrive at knowing this truth with all our souls we shall $e well esta$lished on the
right foundation"
#f these conditions are erfectly carried out there is no dou$t that school studies are
%uite as good a road to sanctity as any other"
To carry out the second& it is enough to wish to do so" This is not the case with the
first" #n order really to ay attention& it is necessary to know how to set a$out it"
-ost often attention is confused with a kind of muscular effort" #f ones says to one7s
uils. /now you must ay attention&1 one sees them contracting their $rows& holding
their $reath& stiffening their muscles" #f after two minutes they are asked what they
have $een aying attention to& they cannot rely" They have $een concentrating on
nothing" They have not $een aying attention" They have $een contracting their
muscles"
We often e)end this kind of muscular effort on our studies" +s it ends $y making
tired& we have the imression that we have $een working" That is an illusion"
Tiredness has nothing to do with work" Work itself is the useful effort& whether it is
tiring or not" This kind of muscular effort in work is entirely $arren& even if it is made
with he $est of intentions" Good intentions in such cases are among those that ave
the way to hell" Studies conducted in such a way can sometimes succeed academically
from the oint of view of gaining marks and assing e)aminations& $ut that is in site
of the effort and thanks to natural gifts' moreover such studies are never of any use"
Will ower& the kind that& if need $e& makes us set our teeth and endure suffering& is
the rincial weaon of the arentice engaged in manual work" 3ut& contrary to the
usual $elief& it has ractically no lace in study" The intelligence can only $e led $y
desire" 0or there to $e desire& there must $e leasure and ,oy in the work" The
intelligence only grows and $ears fruit in ,oy" The ,oy of learning is as indisensa$le
in study as $reathing is in running" Where it is lacking there are no real students& $ut
only oor caricatures of arentices who& at the end of their arenticeshis& will not
even have a trade"
#t is the art layed $y ,oy in our students that makes of them a rearation for
siritual life& for desire directed toward God is the only ower caa$le of raising the
soul" (r rather& it is God alone who comes down and ossesses the soul& $ut desire
alone draws God down" 8e only comes to those who ask him to come' and he cannot
refuse to come to those who imlore him long& and ardently"
+ttention is an effort& the greatest of all efforts erhas& $ut it is a negative effort" (f
itself& it does not involve tiredness" When we $ecome tired& attention is scarcely
ossi$le any more& unless we have already had a good deal of ractice" #t is $etter to
sto working altogether& to seek some rela)ation& and then a little later to return to the
task' we have to ress on and loosen u alternatively& ,ust as we $reathe in and out"
Twenty minutes of concentrated& untired attention is infinitely $etter than three hours
of the kind of frowning alication that leads us to say with a sense of duty done. /#
have worked well91
3ut& in site of all aearances& it is also far more difficult" Something is our soul has
a far more violent reugnance for true attention than the flesh has $odily fatigue" This
something is much more closely connected with evil than is the flesh" That is why
every time that we really concentrate our attention& we destroy the evil in ourselves" #f
we concentrate this intention& a %uarter of an hour attention is $etter than a great many
good works"
+ttention consists of susending our thought& leaving it detached& emty& and ready to
$e enetrated $y the o$,ect' it means holding in our minds& within reach of this
thought& $ut on a lower level and not in contact with it& the diverse knowledge we
have ac%uired which we are forced to make use of" (ur thoughts should $e in relation
to all articular and already formulated thoughts& as a man on a mountain who& as he
looks forward& sees also $elow him& without actually looking at them& a great many
forests and lains" +$ove all out thought should $e emty waiting& not seeking
anything& $ut ready to receive in its naked truth the o$,ect that is to enetrate it"
+ll wrong translations& all a$surdities in geometry ro$lems& all clumsiness of style&
and all faulty connection of ideas in comositions and essays& all such things are due
to the fact that thought has sei!ed uon some idea too hastily& and $eing thus
rematurely $locked& is not oen to the truth" The cause is always that we have
wanted to $e too active' we have wanted to carry out a search" This can $e roved
every time& for every fault& if we trace it to its root" There is no $etter e)ercise tan
such a tracing down of our faults& for this truth is one to $e $elieved only when we
have e)erienced it hundreds of thousands of times" This is the way with all essential
truths"
We do not o$tain the most recious gifts $y going in search of them $ut $y waiting
for them" -an cannot discover them $y his own owers& and if he sets out to seek for
them he will find in their lace counterfeits of which he will $e una$le to discern"
falsity"
The solution of a geometry ro$lem does not in itself constitute a recious gift& $ut
the same law alies to it $ecause it is the image of something recious" 3eing a little
fragment of articular truth& it is a ure image of the uni%ue& eternal& and living Truth&
the very Truth that once in a human voice declared. /# am the Truth"1
5very school e)ercise& thought of in this way& is like a sacrament"
#n every school e)ercise there is a secial way of waiting uon truth& setting our hearts
uon it& yet not allowing ourselves to go out in search of it" There is a way of giving
our attention to the data of a ro$lem& in geometry without trying to find the solution
or to the words of Latin or Greek te)t without trying to arrive at the meaning& a way
of waiting& when we are writing& for the right word to come of itself at the end of our
en& while we merely re,ect all inade%uate words"
(ur first duty toward school children and students is to make known this method to
them& not only in a general way $ut in the articular form that $ears on each e)ercise"
#t is not only the duty of those who teach them $ut also of their siritual guides"
-oreover the latter should $ring out in a $rilliantly clear light the corresondence
$etween the attitude of the intelligence in each one of these e)ercises and the osition
of the soul& which& with its lam well filled with oil& awaits the 3ridegroom7s coming
with confidence and desire" -ay each loving adolescent& as he works at his Latin
rose& hoe through this rose to come a little nearer to the instant when he will really
$e the slave:faithfully waiting while the master is a$sent& watching and listening:
ready to oen the door to him as soon as he knocks" The master will then make his
slave sit down and himself serve him with meat"
(nly this waiting& this attention& can move the master to treat his slave with such
ama!ing tenderness" When the slave has worn himself out in the fields& his master
says on his return& /2reare my meal& and wait uon me"1 +nd he considers the
servant who only does what he is told to do to $e unrofita$le" To $e sure in the realm
of action we have to do all that is demanded of us& no matter what effort& weariness&
and suffering it may cost& for he who diso$eys dose not love' $ut after that we are
only unrofita$le servants" Such service is a condition of love& $ut it is no enough"
What forces the master to make himself that slave of his slave& and to love him& has
nothing to do with all that" Still less is it the result of a search the servant might have
$een $old enough to undertake on his own initiative" #t is only watching& waiting&
attention"
8ay then are those who ass their adolescence and youth in develoing this ower
of attention" *o dou$t they are no nearer to goodness that their $rothers working in
fields and factories" They are nearer in a different way" 2easants and workmen
ossess a nearness to God of incomara$le savor which is found in the deths of
overty& in the a$sence of social consideration and in the endurance of long drawn-out
sufferings" #f& however& we consider the occuations in themselves& studies are nearer
to God $ecause of the attention which is their soul" Whoever foes through years of
study without develoing this attention within himself has lost a great treasure"
*ot only does the love of God have attention for its su$stance' the love of our
neigh$our& which we know to $e the same love& is made of this same su$stance" Those
who are unhay have no need for anything in this world $ut eole caa$le of giving
them their affection" The caacity to give one7s attention to the sufferer is a very rare
and difficult thing' it is almost a miracle' it is a miracle" *early all those who think
they have this caacity do not ossess it" Warmth of heart& imulsiveness& ity are not
enough"
#n the first legend of the Grail& it is said that the Grail ;the miraculous vessel that
satisfies all hunger $y virtue of the consecrated 8ost< $elongs to the first comer who
asks the guardian of the vessel& a king three-%uarters araly!ed $y the most ainful
wound& /What are you going through=1
The love of our neigh$our in all its fullness simly means $eing a$le to say to him.
/What are you going through=1 #t is recognition that the sufferer e)ists& not only as a
unit in a collection& or a secimen from the social category la$elled /unfortunate&1 $ut
as a man& e)actly like us& who was one day stamed with a secial mark $y affliction"
0or this reason it is enough& $ut it is indisensa$le& to know how to look at him in a
certain way"
This way of looking is first of all attentive" The soul emties itself of all its own
contents in order to receive into itself the $eing it is looking at& ,ust as he is& in all his
truth"
(nly he who is caa$le of attention can do this"
So it comes a$out that& arado)ical as it may seem& a Latin rose or geometry
ro$lem& even though they are done wrong& may $e of a great service one day&
rovided we devote the right kind of effort to them" Should the occasion arise& they
can one day make us $etter a$le to give someone in affliction e)actly the hel
re%uired to save him& at the sureme moment of his need"
0or an adolescent& caa$le of grasing this truth and generous enough to desire this
fruit a$ove all others& studies could have their fullest siritual effect& %uite aart from
any articular religious $elief"
+cademic work is one of those fields containing a earl so recious that it is worth
while to sell all of our ossessions& keeing nothing for ourselves& in order to $e a$le
to ac%uire it"