If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
The individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that an individual's identity and freedom are interconnected with others and the broader world.
Simone De Beauvoir suggests that a person's existence and sense of self are intrinsically linked to their relationships and interactions with the world around them. This idea highlights the importance of transcending personal boundaries and recognizing that true freedom is not only an individual pursuit but also contingent upon the liberation of others, affirming the collective nature of human existence.
Themes
IndividualFreedomRelationshipExistenceTranscendence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community involvement, this quote can illustrate the importance of collaboration.
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)
Simone De BeauvoirRead
To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
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.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
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.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day. The housewife wears herself out marking time: she makes nothing, simply perpetuates the present … Eating, sleeping, cleaning – the years no longer rise up towards heaven, they lie spread out ahead, grey and identical. The battle against dust and dirt is never won.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
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In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young.
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