If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
It is not in giving life but in risking life that man is raised above the animal; that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity not to the sex that brings forth but to that which kills.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that the true measure of humanity lies in the willingness to take risks for a greater cause, rather than simply in the act of creation or nurturing.
Simone De Beauvoir's quote challenges the perceptions of human superiority by suggesting that it is not merely the act of giving life that elevates humanity above animals, but rather the courage to risk one's life in the pursuit of higher ideals. This perspective critiques traditional gender roles, as it implies that the capacity to confront danger, sacrifice, and engage in conflict is what defines humanity’s essence, and thus posits that qualities commonly associated with the masculine are celebrated over those traditionally aligned with femininity.
Themes
RiskHumanityCourageSuperioritySacrifice
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about leadership, one might reference this quote to discuss the importance of taking bold actions.
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)
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To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
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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.
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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
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