Simone De Beauvoir Quotes

“If so few female geniuses are found in history, it is because society denies them any means of expression.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“: woman is an eminently poetic reality since man projects onto her everything he is not resolved to be.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“The feminine body is expected to be flesh, but discreetly so;”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“; the man who does not "understand" a woman is happy to replace his subjective deficiency with an objective resistance; instead of admitting his ignorance, he recognizes the presence of a mystery exterior to himself: here is an excuse that flatters his laziness and vanity at the same time.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“Forced motherhood results in bringing miserable children into the world, children whose parents cannot feed them, who become victims of public assistance or "martyr children." It must be pointed out that the same society so determined to defend the rights of the fetus shows no interest in children after they are born; instead of trying to reform this scandalous institution called public assistance, society prosecutes abortionists; those responsible for delivering orphans to torturers are left free; society closes its eyes to the horrible tyranny practiced in "reform schools" or in the private homes of child abusers; and while it refuses to accept that the fetus belongs to the mother carrying it, it nevertheless agrees that the child is his parents' thing.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“It must be added that the men who most respect embryonic life are the same ones who do not hesitate to send adults to death in war.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“The little girl feels that her body is escaping her, that it is no longer the clear expression of her individuality: it becomes foreign to her; and at the same moment she is grasped by others as a thing: on the street, eyes follow her, her body is subject to comments; she would like to become invisible; she is afraid of becoming flesh and afraid to show her flesh.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“The relation of woman to husband, of of daughter to father, of sister to brother, is a relation of vassalage.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“she gives birth in pain, she heals males' wounds, she nurses the newborn and buries the dead; of man she knows all that offends his pride and humiliates his will. While inclining before him and submitting flesh to spirit, she remains on the carnal borders of the spirit; and she contests the sharpness of hard masculine architecture by softening the angles; she introduces free luxury and unforeseen grace.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“But the answer is obvious: it is easy to believe one is sovereign when alone, to believe oneself strong when carefully refusing to bear any burden.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“There is no such thing as maternal "instinct": the word does not in any case apply to the human species. The mother's attitude is defined by her total situation and by the way she accepts it.”
― Simone de Beauvoir

“Primitive people alienate themselves in their mana, their totem; civilized people in their individual souls, their egos, their names, their possessions, and their work: here is the first temptation of inauthenticity.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“From man's point of view adopted by both male and female psychoanalysts - behavior of alienation is considered feminine, and behavior where the subject posits his transcendence is considered masculine. Donaldson, a historian of woman, observed that the definitions "the man is a male human being, the woman is a female human being" were asymmetrically mutilated; psychoanalysts in particular define man as a human being and woman as a female: every time she acts like a human being, the woman is said to be imitating the male.”
― Simone de Beauvoir

“Ningún hombre consentiría en ser mujer, pero todos desean que haya mujeres.”
― Simone de Beauvoir , The Second Sex

“I’ve done everything I wanted to do, writing books, learning about things, but I’ve been swindled all the same because it’s never anything more.”
― Simone de Beauvoir

“Sorumlusu olmadığım halde, benim olan, hiçbir zaman da bağışlatamayacağım bir günahın, umutsuzluk içinde, cezasını çekiyordum.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, A Very Easy Death

“Taking without being taken in the anguish of becoming prey is the dangerous game of adolescent feminine sexuality.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“The relation of woman to husband, of daughter to father, of sister to brother, is a relation of vassalage.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“No existe muerte natural: nada de lo que sucede al hombre es natural puesto que su sola presencia cuestiona al mundo. Todos los hombres son mortales: pero para todos los hombres la muerte es un accidente y, aunque la concozca y la acepte, es una violencia indebida.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, A Very Easy Death

“Their behavior is defined and can be judged only within this given situation, and it is possible that in this situation, limited like every human situation, they realize a perfect assertion of their freedom. But once there appears a possibility of liberation, it is resignation of freedom not to exploit the possibility, a resignation which implies dishonesty and which is a positive fault.”
― Simone de Beauvoir

“Adesso cercavo di sdoppiarmi per osservarmi, per spiarmi; nel mio diario dialogavo con me stessa. Entrai in un mondo che mi stordì per la sua novità. Appresi ciò che separa la tristezza dalla malinconia, l'aridità dalla serenità; appresi le esitazioni e i deliri del sentimento, lo splendore delle grandi rinunce e i mormorii sotterranei della speranza. Mi esaltavo, come nelle serate in cui contemplavo il cielo cangiante dietro le montagne azzurre; io ero il paesaggio e lo sguardo: non esistevo che in me stessa e per me stessa.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter

“En la Naturaleza, nada está nunca completamente claro: los tipos, macho y hembra, no siempre se distinguen con nitidez.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, Le deuxième sexe, I

“Las mujeres no son solidarias como sexo: ante todo están ligadas a su clase; los intereses de las burguesas y los de las mujeres proletarias no coinciden.”
― Simone de Beauvoir , The Second Sex

“En todo acto sexual esta implicado lo Otro, y su rostro más habitual es el de la mujer.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

“Essere donna non è un dato naturale, ma il risultato di una storia. Non c'è un destino biologico e psicologico che definisce la donna in quanto tale. Tale destino è la conseguenza della storia della civiltà, e per ogni donna la storia della sua vita.”
― Simone De Beauvoir

“Teriam eles trinta ou sessenta anos? Os cabelos de André ficaram brancos prematuramente: antes, isso era charmoso, a neve que realçava o frescor moreno de sua tez. E ainda o era. A pele havia engrossado e enrugado, como couro velho, mas os sorrisos da boca e dos olhos mantinham seu brilho. Apesar dos desmentidos do álbum de fotos, sua imagem jovem se curvara diante do seu rosto de hoje: para Nicole, ele não envelhecera nada.Certamente porque ele mesmo parecia ignorar que havia envelhecido. André, que no passado gostava tanto de correr, nadar, escalar e se olhar no espelho, agora exibia seus sessenta e quatro anos sem preocupações. Uma vida longa de risos, lágrimas, raivas, abraços, confissões, silêncios e emoções, e, às vezes, parece que o tempo não passou. O futuro ainda se estende ao infinito.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, Misverstand in Moskou

“Já se passaram três anos? [...] A rapidez com que os anos se passaram era angustiante. Quantas vezes ainda teria três anos para viver?”
― Simone de Beauvoir, Misverstand in Moskou

“Aos cinquenta anos, suas roupas lhe pareciam ou tristes demais ou muito alegres. Agora, ela sabia o que lhe era permitido ou proibido, e se vestia sem preocupação. Sem prazer também. Aquela relação íntima, quase terna, que antes tinha com suas roupas não existia mais. Nicole pendurou seu tailleur no armário: e, apesar de tê-lo usado durante dois anos, era-lhe agora um objeto indiferente, impessoal, no qual não encontrava mais nada de si. Enquanto isso, Macha sorria diante do espelho, não por causa da bela blusa que experimentava, mas por uma imagem que concebia de sia mesma, inesperada e sedutora. É, eu me lembro, pensou Nicole.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, Misverstand in Moskou

“Sentiment d'être composée de multiples morceaux de femmes; il y a en moi de la Dalida, Yourcenar, Beauvoir, Colette, etc... même Sand.”
― Annie Ernaux

“She was not born, but rather became, Jane Austen.”
― Devoney Looser, The Making of Jane Austen