Quotessence
Home / Authors / Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsFeminismWorldThinkingWritingExistenceWomenHumansWayExistentialismWantDoeKnowsChildrenFeminineMadeSituationAgeExistential

Famous Simone de Beauvoir Quotes

“The father's life is surrounded by mysterious prestige: the hours he spends in the home, the room where he works, the objects around him, his occupations, his habits, have a sacred character. It is he who feeds the family, is the one in charge and the head. Usually he works outside the home, and it is through him that the household communicates with the rest of the world: he is the embodiment of this adventurous, immense, difficult, and marvelous world; he is transcendence, he is God.”

WorldCharacterHomeLife IsFatherDifficultHoursRoomsObjectsHabitSacredCommunicateWork OutMysteriousOccupationHouseholdImmenseMarvelousTranscendenceAdventurousPrestigeEmbodiment
Author:Simone de Beauvoir
Create image

“A life is such a strange object, at one moment translucent, at another utterly opaque, an object I make with my own hands, an object imposed on me, an object for which the world provides the raw material and then steals it from me again, pulverized by events, scattered, broken, scored yet retaining its unity; how heavy it is and how inconsistent: this contradiction breeds many misunderstandings.”

WorldMomentsHandsLife IsMy OwnEventsObjectsStrangeMaterialsBrokenUnityHeavyStealingContradictionMisunderstandingInconsistentRaw MaterialsRetainingOpaque
Author:Simone de Beauvoir
Create image

“Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive.”

IfsKnowsMenWorldNeedsWellsRealPhilosophyFactsTodayDesireIndividualGoalExistenceKnownRiskIgnoranceWeaknessInfiniteRemainsDimensionsGuaranteesExistentialismImmenseReal LoveCatastropheRevoltStaggeringDensityCertitudeCollectivity
Author:Simone de Beauvoir
Create image

“In a way, literature is true than life,' he said to himself. 'On paper, you say exactly and completely what you feel. How easy it is to break things off on paper! You hate, you shout, you kill, you commit suicide; you carry things to the very end. And that's why it's false. But it's damned satisfying. In life, you're constantly denying yourself, and others are always contradicting you. On paper, I make time stand still and I impose my convictions on the whole world; they become the only reality.”

WorldWayFeelsSaidStillsEndsWholeRealityHateLiteratureEasyBreakPaperSuicideConvictionWhole WorldCommitSatisfyingHate YouMaking TimeContradictingDenying Yourself
Author:Simone de Beauvoir
Create image

“The individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself.”

WorldHeartIndividualExistenceMovementSpringDefinedJustifyExistentialTranscending
Book:The Philosophical Library Existentialism Collection: Essays in Metaphysics, The Ethics of Ambiguity, and The Philosophy of Existentialism
Create image