If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that an individual's identity and freedom are interconnected with others and the broader world.
Simone De Beauvoir suggests that a person's existence and sense of self are intrinsically linked to their relationships and interactions with the world around them. This idea highlights the importance of transcending personal boundaries and recognizing that true freedom is not only an individual pursuit but also contingent upon the liberation of others, affirming the collective nature of human existence.
Themes
IndividualFreedomRelationshipExistenceTranscendence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community involvement, this quote can illustrate the importance of collaboration.
More from Simone De Beauvoir
All quotes →Two 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
To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
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 … Eating, sleeping, cleaning – 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
Similar quotes
The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
I write against the religion because if women want to live like human beings, they will have to live outside the religion and Islamic law.
Taslima NasrinRead
The blues aren’t pessimistic. We’re prisoners of hope but we tell the truth and the truth is dark.
Cornel WestRead
There have been periods where the folks who were already here suddenly say, 'Well, I don't want those folks,' even though the only people who have the right to say that are some Native Americans.
Barack ObamaRead
The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction, and if war is used as an instrument of policy, eventually we will have total war.
Lester B. PearsonRead
Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve the Name of the Lord, and become the servant of His servants.
Guru NanakRead