Simone Beauvoir Quotes

"There is no justification for present existence other than its expansion into an indefinitely open future."

"To make oneself an object, to make oneself passive, is a very different thing from being a passive object."

"One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius."

"To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job."

"The faculty of imagination is both the rudder and the bridle of the senses"

"Art is an attempt to integrate evil"

"This has always been a man's world, and none of the reasons that have been offered in explanation have seemed adequate."

"In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation."

"Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable."

"Buying is a profound pleasure."

"The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength /each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence."

"It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for living."

"To show your true ability is always, in a sense, to surpass the limits of your ability, to go a little beyond them: to dare, to seek, to invent; it is at such a moment that new talents are revealed, discovered, and realized."

"Few books are more thrilling than certain confessions, but they must be honest, and the author must have something to confess."

"If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat"

"Since it is the Other within us who is old, it is natural that the revelation of our age should come to us from outside -from others. We do not accept it willingly."

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay."

"One is not born a woman, one becomes one."

"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."

"I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me."