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The Second Sex quotes

Simone de Beauvoir

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“A woman is shut up in a kitchen or a boudoir, and one is surprised her horizon is limited; her wings are cut, and then she is blamed for not knowing how to fly.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The representation of the world as the world itself is the work of men; they describe it from a point of view that is their own and that they confound with the absolute truth.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The same vicious circle can be found in all analogous circumstances: when an individual or a group of individuals is kept in a situation of inferiority, the fact is that he or they are inferior.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“For all those suffering from an inferiority complex, this is a miraculous liniment; no one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or more disdainful, than a man anxious about his own virility.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“All oppression creates a state of war.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in one’s self.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“if the body is not a thing, it is a situation: it is our grasp on the world and the outline for our projects.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“To make oneself object, to make oneself passive, is very different from being a passive object: a woman in love is neither asleep nor a corpse; there is a surge in her that ceaselessly falls and rises: it is this surge that creates the spell that...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Doomed to procreation and secondary tasks, stripped of her practical importance and her mystical prestige, woman becomes no more than a servant.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“If it is said men oppress women, the husband reacts indignantly; he feels oppressed: he is; but in fact, it is the masculine code, the society developed by males and in their interest, that has defined the feminine condition in a form that is now...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The day when it will be possible for the woman to love in her strength and not in her weakness, not to escape from herself but to find herself, not out of resignation but to affirm herself, love will become for her as for man the source of life...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The happy couple that recognizes each other in love defies the universe and time; it is sufficient in itself, it realizes the absolute.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“For as long as this equality is not universally recognized and concretely realized, it is very difficult for a woman to act as an equal to a man.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Economically, men and women almost form two castes; all things being equal, the former have better jobs, higher wages, and greater chances to succeed than their new female competitors; they occupy many more places in industry, in politics, and so...” 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
“Every individual concerned with justifying his existence experiences his existence as an indefinite need to transcend himself.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Mystery is never more than a mirage; it vanishes as soon as one tries to approach it.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Being on the fringes of the world is not the best place for someone who intends to re-create it: here again, to go beyond the given, one must be deeply rooted in it. Personal accomplishments are almost impossible in human categories collectively...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Two separate beings, placed in different situations, confronting each other in their freedom, and seeking the justification of existence through each other, will always live an adventure full of risks and promises.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The drama of marriage is not that it does not guarantee the wife the promised happiness—there is no guarantee of happiness—it is that it mutilates her; it dooms her to repetition and routine.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The worst curse on woman is her exclusion from warrior expeditions; it is not in giving life but in risking his life that man raises himself above the animal; this is why throughout humanity, superiority has been granted not to the sex that gives...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Yet a revolution cannot begin until the diffuse, private indignation of individuals coalesces into a common cause.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“The division of the sexes is a biological given, not a moment in human history.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“By the time humankind reaches the stage of writing its mythology and laws, patriarchy is definitively established: it is males who write the codes.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Few books are as fascinating as certain confessions: but they have to be sincere, and the author has to have something to confess.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“A man never begins by positing himself as an individual of a certain sex: that he is a man is obvious.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

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woman women oppression love men happiness body war gender birth inferiority equality relationship marriage mystery truth life self freedom desire

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Simone de Beauvoir quotes