If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
I felt myself in a solitude so frightful that I contemplated suicide. What held me back was the idea that no one, absolutely no one, would be moved by my death, that I would be even more alone in death than in life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores deep feelings of loneliness and the despair that can lead one to contemplate suicide, highlighting the importance of connection with others.
In this quote, Jean-Paul Sartre expresses the harrowing isolation that can be experienced in life, to the point where he considers taking his own life. However, he realizes that dying would not only end his suffering but also lead to an even greater solitude, as he would be forgotten and unmourned by others. This reflection emphasizes the fundamental human need for relationships and the impact that our existence has on those around us.
Themes
SolitudeSuicideLonelinessExistenceRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
In a mental health awareness speech, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of checking in on friends.
More from Jean-Paul Sartre
All quotes →All 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
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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That the foundation of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity, of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice.
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To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.
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