Jean-Paul Sartre was a renowned French philosopher, writer, and political activist who is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. His ideas on existentialism, freedom, and human consciousness have left an indelible mark on philosophy, literature, and political theory. Sartre’s works include novels, plays, essays, and critical studies, and he is perhaps best known for his magnum opus, “Being and Nothingness”.
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Sartre’s writings are filled with thought-provoking insights and memorable quotes that continue to inspire and challenge readers to this day. Today, we’ve compiled 55 of his most famous quotes that offer a glimpse into his philosophy and worldview. These quotes cover a wide range of topics, from freedom and responsibility to love and despair. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Sartre’s work or a newcomer to his ideas, these quotes are sure to provoke thought and spark conversation.
I hope you enjoy these quotes by Jean-Paul Sartre…
1) “A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
2) “All that I know about my life, it seems, I have learned in books.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
3) “I am going to outlive myself. Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. Exist slowly, softly, like these trees, like a puddle of water, like the red bench in the streetcar.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
4) “As far as men go, it is not what they are that interests me, but what they can become.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
5) “You must be afraid, my son. That is how one becomes an honest citizen.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
6) “If I became a philosopher if I have so keenly sought this fame for which I’m still waiting, it’s all been to seduce women basically.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
7) “Before you come alive, life is nothing; it ‘s up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing else but the meaning that you choose.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
8) “Being is. Being is in itself. Being is what it is.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
9) “I do not believe in God; his existence has been disproved by Science. But in the concentration camp, I learned to believe in men.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
Do what you do best…
10) “The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
11) “Better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
12) “One cannot become a saint when one works sixteen hours a day.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
13) “Commitment is an act, not a word.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
14) “Do you think that I count the days? There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
15) “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
16) “Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
17) “Evil is the product of the ability of humans to make abstract that which is concrete.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
18) “Existence precedes and rules essence.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
19) “For an occurrence to become an adventure, it is necessary and sufficient for one to recount it.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre quotes on freedom…
20) “Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
21) “I’m going to smile, and my smile will sink down into your pupils, and heaven knows what it will become.” – Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit
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22) “Life has no meaning the moment you lose the illusion of being eternal.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
23) “Hell is – other people!” – Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit
24) “All human actions are equivalent and all are on principle doomed to failure.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
25) “I am alone in the midst of these happy, reasonable voices. All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other. In Heaven’s name, why is it so important to think the same things all together.” – Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea
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26) “If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
27) “Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
28) “It is only in our decisions that we are important.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
29) “Justice is a human issue, and I do not need a god to teach it to me.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
That is a fact!
30) “We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are – that is the fact.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
31) “Life begins on the other side of despair.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
32) “Like all dreamers, I mistook disenchantment for truth.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
33) “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
34) “There may be more beautiful times, but this one is ours.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
35) “We must act out passion before we can feel it.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
36) “Man is not the sum of what he has already, but rather the sum of what he does not yet have, of what he could have.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
37) “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.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
38) “One always dies too soon or too late. And yet, life is there, finished: the line is drawn, and it must all be added up. You are nothing other than your life.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
39) “Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre quotes on responsibility and purpose…
40) “Our responsibility is much greater than we might have supposed because it involves all mankind.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
41) “It’s quite an undertaking to start loving somebody. You have to have energy, generosity, blindness. There is even a moment right at the start where you have to jump across an abyss: if you think about it you don’t do it.” – Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea
42) “She believed in nothing. Only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
43) “Smooth and smiling faces everywhere, but ruin in their eyes.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
44) “That God does not exist, I cannot deny, That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
45) “The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
46) “There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
47) “It is, therefore, senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
48) “Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
49) “We are our choices.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre quotes on life and love…
50) “What is life but an unpleasant interruption to a peaceful nonexistence.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
51) “When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
52) “Every word has consequences. Every silence, too.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
53) “Words are loaded pistols.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
54) “The worst thing about being lied to is knowing you weren’t worth the truth.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
55) “You are – your life, and nothing else.”
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