--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [We are not] to take one step, even in…" description: "\"[We are not] to take one step, even in the direction of what is good, beyond that to which we are irresistibly impelled by God, and this applies to act..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fa/simone-weil-544_action_we-are-not-to-take-one-step-even-in-the_2900974.jpg" --- # \[We are not\] to take one step, even in the direction of… ![“[We are not] to take one step, even in the direction of what is good, beyond that to which we are irresistibly impelled by God, and this applies to action, word, and thought.” quote by Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fa/simone-weil-544_action_we-are-not-to-take-one-step-even-in-the_2900974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fa/simone-weil-544_action_we-are-not-to-take-one-step-even-in-the_2900974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fa/simone-weil-544_action_we-are-not-to-take-one-step-even-in-the_2900974.jpg) > “\[We are not\] to take one step, even in the direction of what is good, beyond that to which we are irresistibly impelled by God, and this applies to action, word, and thought.” [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human action, speech, and thought should be guided by divine impulse, not merely by moral effort. **In simple terms:** Follow divine impulse beyond moral duty. Key Takeaway Seek higher spiritual motivation. Themes spirituality ethics divine will Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - prayer - activism - creative expression Key Concepts theology moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern divine guidance? - Can moral duty be enough? A Different Perspective Divine impulse may be ambiguous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Impelled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impelled/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever man uses without the fear of God, whatever he applies to the mere gratifying of his flesh, cannot fail to operate as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-arndt/whatever-man-uses-without-the-fear-of-god-whatever-he-applies-to-the/) [Johann Arndt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-arndt/) > [Never strive, O artist, to create what you are not irresistibly impelled to create!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/never-strive-o-artist-to-create-what-you-are-not-irresistibly/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-impelled-not-to-squeak-like-a-grateful-and-apologetic-mouse-but/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [If I had been straight, I would have been an entirely different person. I would never have turned toward writing with a burning desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/if-i-had-been-straight-i-would-have-been-an-entirely-different-person/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [I've always been impelled to say the truth. When I was 14, in 1954, I already wrote a gay novel, though I'd never read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-ve-always-been-impelled-to-say-the-truth-when-i-was-14-in-1954-i/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [I'm inclined to think that, because it's such an awful life, that politicians do go into it for the best reasons. I mean, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eyre/i-m-inclined-to-think-that-because-it-s-such-an-awful-life-that/) [Richard Eyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eyre/) > [The point really is that a writer tends to write a book that he or she tends to write. 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Everything that is less than the universe is subjected to suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/one-should-identify-oneself-with-the-universe-itself-everything-that/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [What a country calls its vital economic interests are not the things which enable its citizens to live, but the things which enable it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/what-a-country-calls-its-vital-economic-interests-are-not-the-things/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-intelligent-man-who-is-proud-of-his-intelligence-is-like-the/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-highest-ecstasy-is-the-attention-at-its-fullest/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [To be innocent is to bear the weight of the entire universe. 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