Simone de Beauvoir - Oneself Quotes

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

Simone de Beauvoir
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.

Simone de Beauvoir
To will oneself moral and to will oneself free are one and the same decision.

Simone de Beauvoir
Even if one is neither vain nor self-obsessed, it is so extraordinary to be oneself — exactly oneself and no one else — and so unique, that it seems natural that one should also be unique for someone else.

Simone de Beauvoir
—There you are. The sight of the changing world is miraculous and heartbreaking, both at the same time. —But so it is for me too. The heartbreaking side of growing old is not in the things around one but in oneself.

Simone de Beauvoir
To lose confidence in one's body is to lose confidence in oneself.

Simone de Beauvoir
It is true that nothing is gained without something being lost: everyone knows that in fulfilling oneself one necessarily sacrifices some possibilities.

Simone de Beauvoir