If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
The sun is not ridiculous, quite the contrary. On everything I like, on the rust of the construction girders, on the rotten boards of the fence, a miserly, uncertain light falls, like the look you give, after a sleepless night, on decisions made with enthusiasm the day before, on pages you have written in one spurt without crossing out a word.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexity of human perception and the interplay between light and darkness in our choices and creations.
In this quote, Sartre illustrates how the sun, often a symbol of clarity and optimism, casts a hesitant and insufficient light on various aspects of life, including our decisions, creative expressions, and the passage of time. The imagery of light touching rust and decay symbolizes a deeper reflection on the aftermath of enthusiasm and the critical light that comes from hindsight, suggesting that our choices are often more complicated than they appear in the moment.
Themes
PerceptionLightDecisionsReflectionEnthusiasmLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of choices during a motivational talk.
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
Similar quotes
Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.
Thomas PaineRead
The sad and horrible conclusion is that no one cared that Jews were being murdered... This is the Jewish lesson of the Holocaust and this is the lesson which Auschwitz taught us.
Ariel SharonRead
'Infidel' is a term of reproach, which Christians and Mohammedans, in their modesty, agree to apply to those who differ from them.
Thomas HuxleyRead
That was what gospel was meant to do - make you hate and love yourself at the same time, make you ashamed and glorified.
Dorothy AllisonRead
Inside me is the same desperate hope I have watching the ravenous dead and thinking, Oh please, oh please, oh please. The craving inside of me is to be clutched at by some dead girl. To put my ear to her chest and hear nothing. Even getting munched on by zombies beats the idea that I'm only flesh and blood, skin and bone. Demon or angel or evil spirit, I just need something to show itself. Ghoulie or ghosty or long-legged beastie, I just want my hand held.
Chuck PalahniukRead
People are lonely. The network is seductive. But if we are always on, we may deny ourselves the rewards of solitude.
Sherry TurkleRead