Simone de Beauvoir Quotes

As for woman, her inferiority complex manifests itself in a rejection out of shame of her femininity: it is not the absence of a penis that unleashes this complex but the total situation; the girl envies the phallus only as a symbol of the privileges granted to boys; the father’s place in the family, the universal predominance of males, and upbringing all confirm her idea of masculine superiority. Later, in the course of sexual relations, even the coital posture that places the woman underneath the man is an added humiliation. She reacts by a “masculine protest”; she either tries to masculinize herself or uses her feminine wiles to go into battle against man. Through motherhood she can find in her child the equivalent of the penis. But this supposes that she must first accept herself completely as woman, and thus accept her inferiority. She is far more deeply divided against herself than is man.

A menudo curar es mutilar.

No dia em que for possível à mulher amar na totalidade, não na sua fraqueza, não para fugir de si mesma mas para se encontrar, não para se demitir mas para se afirmar, nesse dia o amor tornar-se-á para ela, como para o homem, fonte de vida e não perigo mortal

در فضای قوسی شکل, خط راست نمیتوان کشید. در جامعه ای که منزه نیست, نمیتوان زندگی منزهی داشت. آم همواره به نحوی گرفتار است. تازه این هم خیال واهی است که باید خودمان را از شر ان خلاص کنیم. هیچ راه رستگاریی وجود ندارد.

Je suis trop intelligente, trop exigeante et trop riche pour que personne puisse se charger de moi entièrement. Personne ne me connaît ni ne m'aime tout entière. Je n'ai que moi.
Il ne faut pas que j'essaie de tromper cette solitude en renonçant à ce que je peux seule porter. Il faut que je vive, sachant que personne ne m'aidera à vivre. Ma force, c'est que je m'estime aussi haut que n'importe quel autrui ; je peux bien envier à l'un ou l'autre telle qualité ; de personne la valeur ne me semble dépasser la mienne : je possède autant. Seule je vivrai, forte de ce que je sais être.

C'est en risquant sa vie que l'homme s'élève au-dessus de l'animal.

Ningún hombre consentiría en ser mujer, pero todos desean que haya mujeres.

The Social Security's medical consultants support the interest not of the victims but of the organization.

É completamente estúpido escrever cartas de amor, não pode ser transcrito através de uma simples carta, mas o que fazer quando este horrível oceano nos separa do homem que amamos?

Un des problèmes essentiels qui se posent à propos de la femme, c'est la conciliation de son rôle reproducteur et de son travail producteur.

If I were to share Jaques' existence I would find it hard to hold my own against him, for already I found his nihilism contagious.

But what does the word insist mean after a whole life of love and understanding? I have never asked anything for myself that I did not also wish for him.

There was only one hope left to me - Andre. But could he fill this emptiness within me? Had he loved me as I loved him? At the beginning I think he did; or rather the question never arose of either of us, for we were so happy together. But when his work no longer satisfied him, did he come to the conclusion that our love was not enough for him? Did it disappoint him? I think he looks upon me as a mathematical constant whose disappearance would take him very much aback without in any way altering his destiny, since the heart of the matter lies elsewhere.

In those days we saw every sort of object as though it were one of those tiny handkerchiefs from which a conjuror can produce silk scarfs, streamers, flags, and yards of ribbon. A cup of coffee became a kaleidoscope in which we could spend ages watching the mutable reflections of ceiling or chandelier.

I could easily understand why Lambert was bored with this peace which gave us back our lives without giving us back our reasons for living.