"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 tot… - Simone de Beauvoir

"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."

English
Collect this quote

About Simone de Beauvoir

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French author and existentialist philosopher. She is now most famous for her 1949 treatise The Second Sex [Le Deuxième Sexe], a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism, and her long personal relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Pen Names: Le Castor
Alternative Names: Simone-Lucie-Ernestine-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir Castor
Unlimited Quote Collections

Organize your favorite quotes without limits. Create themed collections for every occasion with Premium.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Additional quotes by Simone de Beauvoir

Go Premium

Support Quotewise while enjoying an ad-free experience and premium features.

View Plans
It was a lovely autumn day with a blue sky: I made my way through a lead-coloured world, and I realized that my mother’s accident was affecting me far more than I had thought it would. I could not really see why. It had wrenched her out of the framework, the role, the set of images in which I had imprisoned her: I recognized her in this patient in bed, but I did not recognize either the pity or the kind of disturbance that she aroused in me.

Loading...