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Full Idea
Prestige, which is an illusion, is the very essence of power.
Gist of Idea
The essence of power is illusory prestige
Source
Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace (9 extracts) [1943], p.255)
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.255
A Reaction
It is hard to maintain illusory prestige if there is no actual power behind it.
Related Idea
Idea 23817 We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities) [Weil]
| 23807 | The collective is the one and only object of false idolatry [Weil] |
| 23808 | There are two goods - the absolute good we want, and the reachable opposite of evil [Weil] |
| 23809 | Our only social duty is to try to limit evil [Weil] |
| 23810 | Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation [Weil] |
| 23811 | If effort is from necessity rather than for a good, it is slavery [Weil] |
| 23825 | We seek truth only because it is good [Weil] |
| 23826 | Beauty, goodness and truth are only achieved by applying full attention [Weil] |
| 23831 | The essence of power is illusory prestige [Weil] |
| 23830 | A group is only dangerous if it endorses an abstract entity [Weil] |
| 23833 | The good is a nothingness, and yet real [Weil] |
| 23765 | The soul is the intrinsic value of a human [Weil] |