If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
There were days when you peered into yourself, into the secret places of your heart, and what you saw there made you faint with horror. And then, next day, you didn't know what to make of it,you couldn't interpret the horror you had glimpsed the day before. Yes, you know what evil costs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the internal struggle of confronting oneβs own darker emotions and the confusion that follows.
In this quote, Jean-Paul Sartre delves into the complexities of self-exploration and the unsettling feelings that can arise when one confronts the more sinister aspects of their own psyche. The experience of glimpsing one's own potential for evil can lead to feelings of horror, and the subsequent inability to interpret or understand those emotions can create a sense of existential confusion, highlighting the intricate nature of human consciousness and morality.
Themes
Self-ExplorationHorrorEvilMoral ConfusionPsychology
In practice
Example use cases
During a psychological seminar on understanding emotions, one might mention this quote to illustrate the complexities of inner conflict.
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
Night is falling: at dusk, you must have good eyesight to be able to tell the Good Lord from the Devil.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Similar quotes
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.
Abraham LincolnRead
A narrative that branded Africa as little more than an economic, political and social basket case was not likely to provide the investment needed to drive development.
Mo IbrahimRead
Babylon, Learned and wise, hath perished utterly, Nor leaves her speech one word to aid the sigh That would lament her.
William WordsworthRead
He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.
Samuel AdamsRead
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.
Milan KunderaRead
Now every girl is expected to have: Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.
Tina FeyRead