Jean-Paul Sartre

Existentialism

Modern influential 147 sayings

Sayings by Jean-Paul Sartre

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.

1946 — Existentialism Is a Humanism
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Hell is other people.

1944 — No Exit (Huis Clos)
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

We are our choices.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Existence precedes essence.

1946 — Existentialism Is a Humanism
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Man is a useless passion.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Everything is absurd.

1938 — Nausea
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.

1972 — Situations, X: A Plea for Intellectuals
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The essential thing is to not be afraid of being ridiculous.

1938 — Nausea
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Words are loaded pistols.

1947 — What Is Literature?
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.

1938 — Nausea
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Man is a being who wills himself to be what he is not and wills not to be what he is.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Authenticity consists in the free and lucid assumption of the situation.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

To be is to be there.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

We are responsible for our passions.

1946 — Existentialism Is a Humanism
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The greatest joy lies in doing what others say you cannot do.

Unknown — Attributed, often cited in collections, precise original source debated but consistent with his phil…
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Man is a project which possesses a subjective existence.

1946 — Existentialism Is a Humanism
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Bad faith is a lie to oneself.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

We must act without hope.

1946 — Existentialism Is a Humanism
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The individual is not born free, he becomes free.

1943 — Being and Nothingness
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company.

Unknown — Attributed, often cited in collections, precise original source debated but consistent with his phil…
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable