If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the challenge of not only attracting a partner but also maintaining the relationship over time.
Simone De Beauvoir's quote emphasizes the dual nature of romantic relationships. Attracting a partner can be seen as a skill or art form, requiring charm, wit, and appeal. However, the true challenge often lies in the effort and dedication required to sustain that relationship and ensure it remains fulfilling for both parties. It suggests that while initial attraction is important, the ongoing commitment and work involved in a relationship are equally vital.
Themes
RelationshipLoveCommitmentArtMaintenance
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding speech to emphasize the importance of nurturing love.
More from Simone De Beauvoir
All quotes βTwo separate beings, in different circumstances, face to face in freedom and seeking justification of their existence through one another, will always live an adventure full of risk and promise." (p. 248)
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Sex pleasure in woman is a kind of magic spell; it demands complete abandon; if words or movements oppose the magic of caresses, the spell is broken.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day. The housewife wears herself out marking time: she makes nothing, simply perpetuates the present β¦ Eating, sleeping, cleaning β the years no longer rise up towards heaven, they lie spread out ahead, grey and identical. The battle against dust and dirt is never won.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
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