If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
I wanted the moments of my life to follow and order themselves like those of a life remembered. You might as well try and catch time by the tail.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life experiences are often uncontrollable and cannot be neatly organized.
This quote by Jean-Paul Sartre reflects on the complexity of life and the futility of trying to impose order on our memories and experiences. Sartre suggests that, like trying to catch time itself, attempting to neatly organize the moments of our life is a vain endeavor, as life is inherently chaotic and unpredictable.
Themes
LifeTimeMemoryChaosPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on existentialism, this quote can be used to illustrate the unpredictability of life.
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.
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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
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