Simone de Beauvoir

"Ambition is not to be blamed when accompanied by passion and purpose."

"The fact is, we are responsible for everything we do; we cannot hide behind society."

"When you see a person who has been through hell and still smiles, you have witnessed power."

"Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment."

"One cannot grow unless one is willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when trying something new."

"The problem is not that some women earn more than some men, but that all women earn less than all men."

"To forbid desire is to forbid the future; to forbid imagination is to forbid hope."

"Being a woman has only recently stopped being a definition of cosmic inferiority."

"True love is infinite; it cannot be diminished or divided."

"I am convinced that the majority of women do not wish to be women; they wish merely to be relieved from being women."

"The truth is that every human being, man or woman, is infinite; every human relationship is infinite."

"Society as a whole benefits when people are allowed to be themselves."

"Feminism has never been about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing how that strength is perceived."

"The authentic values of art and literature lie not in propaganda but in the exploration of human consciousness."

"One must create the conditions for freedom before one can enjoy freedom."

"A woman who does not stay in her place is said to be immoral; a man who moves beyond his is praised as ambitious."

"Maturity is the ability to think, feel, and act independently, while still respecting the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others."

"The purpose of literature is not to provide answers but to reveal the complexity of human existence."

"The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves until they learn to question the oppressor's narrative."

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once—embrace the present moment."

"Education is the tool by which women can learn to question authority and think for themselves."

"Nostalgia is not a virtue; it is an escape from the present."

"One is not born subordinate; society makes one subordinate through habit and convention."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."

"I am a writer; therefore, I am a human being who thinks with and through language."

"Authenticity requires that one speak the truth even when the truth is unpopular."

"The most radical thing a woman can do is define herself on her own terms."

"One cannot love oneself while hating one's own kind."

"History is not destiny; it is a record of what humans have chosen to do and chosen not to do."

"To live fully is to question constantly and to embrace uncertainty."