All oppression creates a state of war.
Simone de Beauvoir

All the idols made by man, however terrifying they may be, are in point of fact subordinate to him, and that is why he will always have it in his power to destroy them.
Simone de Beauvoir

Art is an attempt to integrate evil.
Simone de Beauvoir

Buying is a profound pleasure.
Simone de Beauvoir

Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.
Simone de Beauvoir

Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes, but is a reward in itself.
Simone de Beauvoir

I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.
Simone de Beauvoir

I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.
Simone de Beauvoir

I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.
Simone de Beauvoir

If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone de Beauvoir


In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation.
Simone de Beauvoir

In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is stupid.
Simone de Beauvoir

It is not in giving life but in risking life that man is raised above the animal; that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity not to the sex that brings forth but to that which kills.
Simone de Beauvoir

It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is life's parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: in a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension. Death does away with time.
Simone de Beauvoir

Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.
Simone de Beauvoir

Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female - whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male.
Simone de Beauvoir

No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility.
Simone de Beauvoir

One is not born a woman, but becomes one.
Simone de Beauvoir

One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.
Simone De Beauvoir

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion.
Simone de Beauvoir