Gravity and Grace

Simone Weil wrote a set of notes which were published under the title of Gravity and Grace. Most of the book is about other things, but there is a section about the titular "gravity" and "grace". Here are some of the thoughts from it, to help explain the meaning of the terms:

All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws analogous to those of physical gravity. Grace is the only exception.

We must always expect things to happen in conformity with the laws of gravity, unless there is supernatural intervention.

Lear, a tragedy of gravity. Everything we call base is a phenomenon due to gravity. Moreover the word baseness is an indication of this fact.

Queueing for food. The same action is easier if the motive is base than if it is noble. Base motives have in them more energy than noble ones. Problem: In what way can the energy belonging to the base motives be transferred to the noble ones?

Not to judge. All faults are the same. There is only one fault: incapacity to feed upon light, for where capacity to do this has been lost all faults are possible. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me." There is no good apart from this capacity.

To lower oneself is to rise in the domain of moral gravity. Moral gravity makes us fall toward the heights.