If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Before you come alive, life is nothing; it 's up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing else but the meaning that you choose.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life gains meaning through our choices and interpretations.
This quote by Jean-Paul Sartre emphasizes the existentialist view that life itself has no inherent meaning; instead, it is up to each individual to create their own meaning and attach value to their existence. It suggests that consciousness and individual choices are what allow us to experience life fully and give it significance.
Themes
LifeMeaningValueExistentialismChoices
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a motivational speech about taking charge of one's destiny.
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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