"The notion of ambiguity must not be confused with that of absurdity. To declare that existence is absurd is to deny that it can ever be given a meaning; to say that it is ambiguous is to assert that its meaning is never fixed, that it must be constantly won. Absurdity challenges every ethics; but also the finished rationalization of the real would leave no room for ethics; it is because man's condition is ambiguous that he seeks, through failure and outrageousness, to save his existence."
Quote collection
Simone de Beauvoir quotes (page 10 of 18)
355 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"It is perfectly natural for the future woman to feel indignant at the limitations posed upon her by her sex. The real question is not why she should reject them: the problem is rather to understand why she accepts them."
"One day I'll be old, dead, forgotten. And at this very moment, while I'm sitting here thinking these things, a man in a dingy hotel room is thinking, "I will always be here.""
"Live with no time-out."
"There are topics which are common to men and women. I think that if a woman speaks of oppression, of misery, she will speak of it in exactly the same way as a man. But if she speaks of her own personal problems as a woman, she will obviously speak in another way."
"I could see no reason for being sad. It´s just that it makes me unhappy not to feel happy."
"It's not a very big step from contentment to complacency."
"The fact that we are human beings is infinitely more important than all the peculiarities that distinguish human beings from one another."
"There is a kind of universality in the human condition, masculine or feminine. That's one thing I continue to believe."
"All the opportunities you let slip by! The idea, the inspiration just doesn´t come fast enough. Instead of being open, you´re closed up tight. That´s the worst sin of all - the sin of omission."
"When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription, "I am still learning.""
"Hegel held that the two sexes were of necessity different, the one being active and the other passive, and of course the female would be the passive one."
"He reflected. 'I know a lot of different kids of people; what I want is to show each of them how the others really are. You hear so many lies!"
"There is no such thing as a natural death: nothing that happens to a man is ever natural, since his presence calls the world into question. All men must die: but for every man his death is an accident and, even if he knows it and consents to it, an unjustifiable violation."
"I like everyone who tries to show that madness is, in large part, conditioned by society and particularly by the family, and therefore, strongly affects women."
"On ne na|"t pas femme: on le devient. One is not born a woman: one becomes a woman."
"Man is a talking animal and he will always let himself be swayed by the power of the word. Machines won't change human nature."
"There are so many problems. Women can go to work on these as well without giving up their feminism."
"I think that Freud understood absolutely nothing about women - as he himself said."
"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)"