The tenth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace contains a selection from  Simone Weil‘s short 1933 essay Reflections on War .  Weil wrote this essay at age 24, and would die young eleven years later. Some would ascribe her death to her empathy for those suffering during World War II being too much for her frail health.

This section of the essay begins with the query: “Can a revolution avoid war?”  She rightly states that “Revolutionary War is the grave of revolution.”  This was the central to the nonviolent methods of Indian independence taking place at the time this essay was written.  And is central to the beliefs of today’s Occupation movement in the US.  Continue reading Simon Weil’s Reflections on War →