If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Better to have beasts that let themselves be killed than men who run away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
It's more honorable to face danger or death than to flee from it.
This quote by Jean-Paul Sartre suggests that there is a certain valor in being brave, even in the face of inevitable harm. Sartre contrasts the nature of animals, which accept their fate, with people who might abandon their responsibilities and courage in tough situations, underscoring the nobility of fighting against odds rather than evading them.
Themes
CourageBraveryHonorFearResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker may use this quote to inspire an audience to confront their fears.
More from Jean-Paul Sartre
All quotes βAll I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.' I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
A kiss without a moustache, they said then, is like an egg without salt; I will add to it: and it is like Good without Evil.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
I wanted pure love: foolishness; to love one another is to hate a common enemy: I will thus espouse your hatred. I wanted Good: nonsense; on this earth and in these times, Good and Bad are inseparable: I accept to be evil in order to become good.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Night is falling: at dusk, you must have good eyesight to be able to tell the Good Lord from the Devil.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
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My father was convinced the Taliban would hunt him down and kill him, but he again refused security from the police. 'If you go around with a lot of security the Taliban will use Kalashnikovs or suicide bombers and more people will be killed,' he said. 'At least I'll be killed alone.'
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it is only courage on the path itself that makes the path appear
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Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is fear that is the cause of all our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings heaven even in a moment. Therefore, "arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached.
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That happened to me, but I'm so much more than that girl that was kidnapped.
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