If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
You are -- your life, and nothing else.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the idea that an individual's essence and existence are defined by their experiences and choices in life.
Jean-Paul Sartre's quote suggests that a person's identity and purpose are not predetermined by external factors but are rather constructed through their actions and decisions throughout their life. It reflects the existentialist belief that individuals are responsible for defining themselves, and that their life experiences shape who they truly are.
Themes
ExistenceIdentityFreedomChoicesEssence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal growth and accountability, this quote can inspire individuals to take charge of their lives.
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
We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.
C. S. LewisRead
Time has no meaning in itself unless we choose to give it significance
Leo BuscagliaRead
Though dreams can be deceiving; like faces are to hearts, they serve for sweet relieving, when fantasy and reality lie too far apart.
Fiona AppleRead
It seems to me that every phenomenon, every fact, itself is the really interesting object. Whoever explains it, or connects it with other events, usually only amuses himself or makes sport of us, as, for instance, the naturalist or historian. But a single action or event is interesting, not because it is explainable, but because it is true.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
Woodrow WilsonRead
When I die I won't go to heaven or hell; there will just be nothingness.
Isaac AsimovRead