And all these existents which bustled about this tree came from nowhere and were going nowhere. Suddenly they existed, then suddenly they existed no … - Jean-Paul Sartre

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And all these existents which bustled about this tree came from nowhere and were going nowhere. Suddenly they existed, then suddenly they existed no longer: existence is without memory; of the vanished it retains nothing — not even a memory. Existence everywhere, infinitely, in excess, for ever and everywhere; existence — which is limited only by existence. I sank down on the bench, stupefied, stunned by this profusion of beings without origin: everywhere blossomings, hatchings out, my ears buzzed with existence, my very flesh throbbed and opened, abandoned itself to the universal burgeoning. It was repugnant. But why, I thought, why so many existences, since they all look alike? What good are so many duplicates of trees? So many existences missed, obstinately begun again and again missed — like the awkward efforts of an insect fallen on its back? (I was one of those efforts.)

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About Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre, was a French existentialist philosopher, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist, and critic. He had an enduring personal relationship with fellow philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Pen Names: Jacques Guillemin
Alternative Names: Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre Jean Paul Sartre J.P. Sartre J.-P. Sartre Sartre
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Shorter versions of this quote

Suddenly they existed, then suddenly they existed no longer: existence is without memory; of the vanished it retains nothing — not even a memory. Existence everywhere, infinitely, in excess, for ever and everywhere; existence — which is limited only by existence.

All was fullness and all was active, there was no weakness in time, all, even the least perceptible stirring, was made of existence. And all these existents which bustled about this tree came from nowhere and were going nowhere.

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نعمةٌ كبرى أن تكون وألا تكون، فأقصى درجات الحرية ألا تكون لافتًا للعين أو للأذن، تقول ما يعجبك ولا يحاسبك أحد، كأنك وحدك في الدنيا أو كأنك صنعت الدنيا على مزاجك، جعلت كل الناس خدامين السيادة ونزعت لسان كل واحد منهم وفقأت عينه وسددت أذنيه، ثم قلت وفعلت ما بدا لك، فلا أحد يحاسبك.

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