Simone De Beauvoir Quotes

I’ve done everything I wanted to do, writing books, learning about things, but I’ve been swindled all the same because it’s never anything more.

The facts of religion were convincing only to those who were already convinced.

All those minds that are interested in finding out the truth communicate with each other across the distances of space and time. I, too, was taking part in the effort which humanity makes to know.

My contemplation is an excruciation only because it is also a joy.

Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands - two equally harmful disciplines.

Ethics is the triumph of freedom over facticity.

I was convinced that I would be, that I was already, one in a million.

One always has to wait until the sugar melts, the memory dies, the wound scars over, the sun sets, the unhappiness lifts and fades away.

I had to call the past to life, and illuminate every corner of the five continents, descend to the centre of the earth and make the circuit of the moon and stars

That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.

What do you believe in ?""People's sufferings, and the fact that it is abominable. One should do everything to abolish it. To tell you the truth, nothing else seems to me of any importance.

It is dreadful to think that behind me my own past is no longer anything but shifting darkness.

There were no scruples, no feelings of respect or loyal affection that would stop us from making up our minds by the pure light of reason - and of our own desires.

Why shouldn't a mystical theology be possible? 'I want to touch God or become God, ' I declared in my journal. All through that year I abandoned myself intermittently to these deliriums.

They use the pretext of avoiding war, to make you swallow any kind of peace, said Paul. They use the pretext of a revolution to involve us in any kind of war, said Jardinet.

Vengeance is pointless, but certain men do not have a place in the world we sought to construct

Vengeance is pointless, but certain men did not have a place in the world we sought to construct

Have you ever felt in your inmost being, the conscience of others?' again she was trembling, the words were not releasing her. 'It's intolerable you know

In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome stubbornness is stupid.

Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes but is a reward in itself.

Those interested in perpetuating present conditions are always in tears about the marvelous past that is about to disappear without having so much as a smile for the young future.

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others by means of love friendship indignation and compassion.

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

You can't assume the responsibility for everything you do-or don't do.

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others by means of love friendship indignation and compassion.

That's what I consider true generosity. You give your all and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.

Live with no time out.

One is not born a genius one becomes a genius.

If you haven't been happy very young you can still be happy later on but it's much harder. You need more luck.

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

One is not born a woman - one becomes one.

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