"Happiness has to be installed in each person as a state of affairs completely cut off from the process that brought it about and, in particular, from the real situation. Man has to be affected with happiness. It is a tonality given to him. Contradiction: if one does take care to give him happiness, it is because he is a free creature--but in order to give it to him, one turns him into an object."

3 likes

Source: Jean-Paul Sartre (1992). “Notebooks for an Ethics”, p.202, University of Chicago Press

About the author

Jean-Paul Sartre

Philosopher, Writer

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French philosopher and playwright known for his existentialist ideas, particularly in works like 'Being and Nothingness'.

All quotes by Jean-Paul Sartre →

Same author

More quotes by Jean-Paul Sartre

See all →
Jean-Paul Sartre Philosopher, Writer

"Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is."

Read quote
Jean-Paul Sartre Philosopher, Writer

"He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever. When you realize that by changing your perspective, big things can be seen as little things, it becomes much harder to worry about anything. Commitment is an act, not a word."

Read quote