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The thing that attracted me about philosophy was that it went straight to essentials. I had never liked fiddling detail; I perceived the general signi...more

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One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion

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Yet I loathe the thought of annihilating myself quite as much now as I ever did. I think with sadness of all the books I’ve read, all the places I’ve ...more

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Why shouldn't a mystical theology be possible? 'I want to touch God or become God,' I declared in my journal. All through that year I abandoned myself...more

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One night I summoned God, if He really existed, to show Himself to me. He didn't, and I never addressed another word to Him. In my heart of hearts I w...more

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The fear of death never left me; I couldn't get used to the thought; I would still sometimes shake and weep with terror. By contrast, the fact of exis...more

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Every war, every revolution, demands the sacrifice of a generation, of a collectivity, by those who undertake it.

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Ethics is the triumph of freedom over facticity.

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But an action which wants to serve man ought to be careful not to forget him on the way, if it chooses to fulfill itself blindly, it will lose its mea...more

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Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual wea...more

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Scriassine studied me in turn. "You're not so dumb, you know. Generally I dislike intelligent women, maybe because they're not intelligent enough. The...more

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Taking without being taken in the anguish of becoming prey is the dangerous game of adolescent feminine sexuality.

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One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.

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; the man who does not "understand" a woman is happy to replace his subjective deficiency with an objective resistance; instead of admitting his ignor...more

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The little girl feels that her body is escaping her, that it is no longer the clear expression of her individuality: it becomes foreign to her; and at...more