Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth9 January 1908
CountryFrance
class would-be normal
That a whole part of the middle class detests me... is utterly normal. I would be troubled if the contrary were true.
women history historical
it is not the inferiority of women that has caused their historical insignificance; it is rather their historical insignificance that has doomed them to inferiority.
real real-love claws
Jealousy is not contemptible, real love has a beak and claws.
christian heaven arrogance
The arrogance of some Christians would close heaven to them if, to their misfortune, it existed.
men ideas history
History is a great cemetery: men, deeds, ideas are always dying as soon as they are born.
mean dwelling-place giving
Dwelling-place and food are useful for life but give it no significance: the immediate goals of the housekeeper are only means, not true ends.
immortality terrible curse
immortality is a terrible curse.
country literature understood
A foreign country can best be understood through its literature.
sacrifice possibility lost
it is true that nothing is gained without something being lost: everyone knows that in fulfilling oneself one necessarily sacrifices some possibilities.
god literature sacred
I had never believed in the sacred nature of literature. God had died when I was fourteen ...
proxy precarious
Living by proxy is always a precarious expedient.
children lying men
It is not mere chance that makes families speak of a child who is 'extraordinary for his age' and also of an old man who is 'extraordinary for his age'; the extraordinariness lies in their behaving like human beings when they are either not yet or no longer men.
eye mirrors age
Old age was growing inside me. It kept catching my eye from the depths of the mirror. I was paralyzed sometimes as I saw it making its way toward me so steadily when nothing inside me was ready for it.
artist order rooted
In order to be an artist, one must be deeply rooted in the society.