If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the power of physical intimacy and the need for total surrender to experience its magic.
Simone De Beauvoir suggests that sexual pleasure in women is intimately connected to a sense of enchantment that can only be achieved through complete trust and abandon. If any distractions or hesitations intervene during intimacy, the spell of pleasure is disrupted, highlighting the importance of emotional and physical connection in experiencing erotic fulfillment.
Themes
SexPleasureIntimacyAbandonConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of emotional connection in relationships, this quote could emphasize the depth of physical intimacy.
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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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.
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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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