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All 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 Sartre
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of freedom and the responsibility that comes with it.

In this quote by Jean-Paul Sartre, the speaker grapples with the concept of freedom, suggesting that true freedom involves facing the situations one has chosen and the responsibilities that accompany those choices. The tension arises when the desire to maintain freedom clashes with the need to confront reality and own one's actions, highlighting a philosophical debate on the nature of human existence and autonomy.

Themes

FreedomResponsibilityPhilosophyChoicesExistence

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about personal accountability, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of facing the consequences of one's choices.

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Every age has its own poetry; in every age the circumstances of history choose a nation, a race, a class to take up the torch by creating situations that can be expressed or transcended only through poetry.
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