216 quotes
We are in hell and I will have my turn!
No Exit (1944)
And when we speak of "abandonment" - a favorite word of Heidegger - we only mean to say that God does not exist and that it is necessary to draw the consequences of his absence to the end.
Existentialism Is a Humanism (1946)
Listen to me: a family man is never a real family man. An assassin is never entirely assassin. They play a role, you understand. While a dead man, he is really dead. To be or not to be, right?
Dirty Hands (1948)
In any case, if you ever leave me with a handsome man, do not tell me that you trust me because, let me warn you: that is not what will prevent me from deceiving you, if I want to. On the contrary.
Dirty Hands (1948)
Who can exhaust a man? Who knows a man's resources?
Nausea (1938)
Man is a useless passion.
Being and Nothingness (1943)
The real nature of the present revealed itself: it was what exists, all that was not present did not exist.
Nausea (1938)
All human activities are equivalent ... and ... all are on principle doomed to failure.
Being and Nothingness (1943)
It is certain that we cannot escape anguish, for we are anguish.
Being and Nothingness (1943)
As for me, I am mean: that means that I need the suffering of others to exist. A flame. A flame in their hearts. When I am all alone, I am extinguished.
No Exit (1944)
I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating.
Nausea (1938)
It was a constraint; he makes of it his mission
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
In a world, man must create his own essence: it is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines himself.
Characterizations of Existentialism (1944)
But when they have realized that it [society] rejects them forever, they themselves assume the ostracism of which they are victims so as not to leave the initiative to their oppressors
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
I wanted for the moments in my life to follow each other and order themselves like those of a life remembered. It would be just as well to try to catch time by the tail.
Nausea (1938)
I am condemned to be free.
Being and Nothingness (1943)
I have nothing but contempt for you idiotic chosen ones who have the heart to rejoice when there are the damned in Hell and the poor on earth; as for me, I am on the side of men and I will not leave it.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
Your entire universe will not be enough to make me guilty. You are the king of the Gods, Jupiter, the king of the stones and of the stars, the king of the waves of the sea. But you are not the king of men.
The Flies (1943)
His obedience is real since he really and truly fulfills his mission, since he runs real risks in order to carry out the beloved's orders. But, on the other hand, it is imaginary because he submits only to a creature of his mind.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
God is the solitude of men. There was only me: I alone decided to commit Evil; alone, I invented Good. I am the one who cheated, I am the one who performed miracles, I am the one accusing myself today, I alone can absolve myself; me, the man.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)