Simone de Beauvoir Quotes
Simone de Beauvoir was a 20th-century French philosopher, writer, and political activist, a central figure of post-war French existentialism and a foundational thinker of modern feminist philosophy. Her 1949 work The Second Sex offered a sweeping philosophical analysis of women's situation, arguing that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman; the book became a defining text of the second-wave feminist movement. The quotes below are attributed to Simone de Beauvoir, organized by topic.
Simone de Beauvoir on Freedom
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely.”
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“To will oneself free is also to will others free.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Knowledge
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for acting.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Life
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Love
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“On the day when it will be possible for woman to love not in her weakness but in her strength, not to escape herself but to find herself, not to abase herself but to assert herself, on that day love will become for her, as for man, a source of life.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Mind
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“To lose confidence in one's body is to lose confidence in oneself.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Politics
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable.”
Simone de Beauvoir on Truth
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Attributed to Simone de Beauvoir:
“I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth, and truth rewarded me.”