Quotes from Being and Nothingness

“It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being - like a worm.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“I must be without remorse or regrets as I am without excuse; for from the instant of my upsurge into being, I carry the weight of the world by myself alone without help, engaged in a world for which I bear the whole responsibility without being able, whatever I do, to tear myself away from this responsibility for an instant.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Thus it amounts to the same thing whether one gets drunk alone or is a leader of nations.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“The appearance of the other in the world corresponds therefore to a congealed sliding of the whole universe.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“The recruit who reports for active duty at the beginning of the war can in some instances be afraid of death, but more often he is 'afraid of being afraid'; that is, he is filled with anguish before himself.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Temporality is obviously an organised structure, and these three so-called elements of time: past, present, future, must not be envisaged as a collection of 'data' to be added together...but as the structured moments of an original synthesis. Otherwise we shall immediately meet with this paradox: the past is no longer, the future is not yet, as for the instantaneous present, everyone knows that it is not at all: it is the limit of infinite division, like the dimensionless point.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“From the very fact, indeed, that I am conscious of the motives which solicit my action, these motives are already transcendent objects from my consciousness, they are outside; in vain shall I seek to cling to them: I escape from them through my very existence. I am condemned to exist forever beyond my essence, beyond the affective and rational motives of my act: I am condemned to be free.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Time gnaws and wears away; it separates; it flies. And by virtue of separation--by separating man from his pain or from the object of his pain--time cures.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“It is certain that we cannot escape anguish, for we are anguish.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Nothingness carries being in its heart.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“We have to deal with human reality as a being which is what it is not and which is not what it is.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Society demands that he limit himself to his function… There are indeed many precautions to imprison a man in what he is as if we lived in perpetual fear that he might escape from it, that he might break away and suddenly elude his condition.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“The flesh is the pure contingency of presence.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“Every belief is a belief that falls short; one never wholly believes what one believes.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

“In irony a man annihilates what he posits within one and the same act; he leads us to believe in order not to be believed; he affirms to deny and denies to affirm; he creatives a positive object but it has no being other than its nothingness.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from Being and Nothingness

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“Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.”
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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.