Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive. Simone De Beauvoir
About This Quote

Albert Camus in his book The Myth of Sisyphus and the Absurd stated: "Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, we human beings could no more solve our problems than we could solve those of the cosmos. Despite our limitations and flaws, we have a choice in how we live our lives. If we choose to be blind to our circumstances and to ignore that fact that we are free to choose, then we are letting ourselves be controlled by others. If we believe that we can't change anything, then we may as well not exist at all because there is no point in continuing on when there is no reason to do so.

We may find ourselves in a situation where there is nothing we can do to change what has already happened or prevent what is going to happen. However, we should never forget that we are free because we can make our own choices. We can create our own reality and not be held down by someone else's opinions.

Source: The Ethics Of Ambiguity

Some Similar Quotes
  1. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. - Elie Wiesel
  2. Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We... - Haruki Murakami
  3. The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace. - Mahatma Gandhi
  4. He suddenly recalled from Plato's Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split then in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost. - Milan Kundera
  5. It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters, - Amit Ray
More Quotes By Simone De Beauvoir
  1. In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation.
  2. One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion
  3. Two separate beings, in different circumstances, face to face in freedom and seeking justification of their existence through one another, will always live an adventure full of risk and promise." (p. 248)
  4. I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end.
  5. I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to...
Related Topics