If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Night is falling: at dusk, you must have good eyesight to be able to tell the Good Lord from the Devil.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that during challenging times, discernment is necessary to differentiate between good and evil.
Jean-Paul Sartre's quote highlights the importance of clarity and judgment in moments of uncertainty, symbolized by dusk as the boundary between day and night. It implies that in life, especially during difficult or ambiguous situations, one must possess the ability to recognize what is truly good and what may appear deceptive or malevolent.
Themes
DiscernmentGoodEvilJudgmentUncertainty
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion on morality and ethics.
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.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
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
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.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
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