15 relevant phrases that show the thinking of Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir is one of the world’s greatest feminist and existentialist writers and philosophers. She died at the age of 78, on April 14, 1986, due to pneumonia, but her works make her alive and give strength to the struggle of women around the world.

Born in Paris on January 9, 1908, Beauvoir’s active political thoughts reverberated important discussions about women’s rights and potentiated the battle against gender oppression. Her ideas are still one of the main sources for the feminist movement, especially starting from one of her most famous phrases: “You are not born a woman, you become a woman”.

Her publications are classics that have left an immeasurable legacy for feminist literature. works like the second sex (1949), Memories of a Well-Behaved Girl (1958), The Goodbye Ceremony (1981) and many others helped to build the career of this philosopher of great importance.

To honor this thinker and keep her memories alive, read 15 phrases by Simone de Beauvoir that empower women!

“It is through work that women have been reducing the distance that separated them from men, only work can guarantee them concrete independence.” (1967)

“No one is born a woman: he becomes a woman.” (1949)

“All oppression creates a state of war.” (1949)

“Sometimes the word represents a more skillful way of being silent than silence.” (1960)

“No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or contemptuous than the man who doubts his manhood.” (1949)

“The original writer, until he dies, is always scandalous.” (1967)

“One cannot write anything with indifference.” (1954)

“Death seems less terrible when you are tired.” (1954)

“If the ‘female question’ is so absurd, it’s because male arrogance has made it a quarrel.” (1949)

“And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything; is to be able to overcome the given towards an open future.” (1947)

“The representation of the world is the operation of men; they describe it from the point of view which is peculiar to them and which they mistake for the absolute truth.” (1949)

“All victories hide an abdication.” (1958)

“On the day when it is possible for a woman to love in her strength, not in her weakness, not to flee from herself but to find herself, not to resign but to assert herself, that day love will become for her, as for man, source of life and not mortal danger.” (1949)

“To set a woman free is to refuse to end the relationships she maintains with a man, not to deny them.” (1949)

“Beauty is still harder to tell than happiness.” (1960)

May Simone de Beauvoir’s life be eternal as long as there is struggle and resistance from women in the world! If you’re looking for more feminist references, check out a list of books to get involved in this movement.