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
Similar quotes
One of the ironies of courage, and the reason why we prize it so highly, is that we find it easier to be brave for someone else than we do for ourselves alone.
Gregory David RobertsRead
I've got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?
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With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.
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Women are constantly being taught how to defend themselves against attack from men. I would like to shift the perception. I want to say that that responsibility should no longer rest on the shoulders of women alone.
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As an old soldier, I admit the cowardice: it's as universal as seasickness, and matters just as little.
George Bernard ShawRead
Coward dogs most spend their mouths when what they seem to threaten runs far before them.
William ShakespeareRead