Have you ever heard existentialism quotes, like the famous one by Jean-Paul Sartre: “Existence precedes essence?”
But what does it really mean, and what if you could read some more existential quotes?
We’ll begin with the explanation of existentialism and then enjoy beautiful existential quotes from different authors.
What is Existentialism?
Existentialism is a literary and philosophical movement that focuses on individual existence, choice, and freedom. It asserts that life has no inherent meaning, and it is up to each person to fashion meaning through their own actions and decisions. Hence, the famous quote “existence precedes essence.” Central to existentialism, you’ll find concepts like freedom, absurdity, alienation, responsibility, and authenticity.
Let’s say you face a career crossroads, you may feel that life has no predetermined purpose or path. You have to make a choice and take responsibility for the consequences, whether that means switching professions, starting a new business, or pursuing a passion project. This is basically existentialism in action. It emphasizes your responsibility, your freedom, and your skill to create personal meaning even amid uncertainty.
Existentialist theory emerged in 19th-century European philosophy, mainly with Søren Kierke76gaard, who is also known as the “father of existentialism”. Other main 19th-century figures include Friedrich Nietzsche and Fyodor Dostoevsky. This movement gained popularity in 20th century, primarily through philosophers like Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as literary figures like Fyodor Dostoevsky and Samuel Beckett.
All in all, it consists of these main theoretical points:
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Existence precedes essence (Sartre): Humans exist first, and only later define themselves through actions.
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The absurd (Camus): Life is inherently meaningless, but humans must endure, persist, and create their own purpose.
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Freedom and responsibility: Each person is free to make choices but is fully responsible for their consequences.
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Authenticity: Living authentically translates to accepting your freedom and facing existential anxiety honestly.
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Some of the books that can help you get a real taste of existentialism are:
- “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett
- “Nausea” by Jean-Paul Sartre
- “The Stranger” by Albert Camus
- “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- “Notes from Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Now, let’s move to the quotes. The existential quotes are arranged according to the author and the main themes discussed by them.
Existential Quotes By Friedrich Nietzsche About Self-Identity and Personal Freedom
Friedrich Nietzsche’s existentialism quotes highlight the themes of self-identity, life’s purpose and struggle, personal freedom, and the responsibility of existence. He stresses the necessity of adversity and chaos for creativity and personal growth and links freedom to self-responsibility.
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
“Become who you are.”
“One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star.”
“No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.”
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
“There are no facts, only interpretations.”
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
“He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.”
“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.”
“Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves.”
“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.”
“The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
“Faith: not wanting to know what is true.”
“Man is the cruelest animal.”
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”
Short Existential Quotes By Jean-Paul Sartre About Choice, Suffering, and Freedom
You’ll find themes of choice, suffering, and personal responsibility, understanding that humans are condemned to be free and must define their own existence in Jean-Paul Sartre’s writings. You’ll see Sartre exploring the tension between individual agency and societal influence, sometimes asserting that meaning is self-created in an indifferent or absurd world.
“Existence precedes essence.”
“Man is condemned to be free.”
“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.”
“Hell is other people.”
“Life has no meaning a priori… it is up to you to give it meaning.”
“Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.”
“Do you think that I count the days? There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.”
“We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are.”
“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.”
“Freedom is terrifying because it demands responsibility.”
“If you are lonely when you’re alone, you are in bad company.”
“Man is fully responsible for his actions.”
“Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness.”
“Man makes himself.”
“We are our choices.”
“Better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.”
“I am alone in the midst of these happy, reasonable voices. All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other. In Heaven’s name, why is it so important to think the same things all together. ”
“I want to leave, to go somewhere where I should be really in my place, where I would fit in . . . but my place is nowhere; I am unwanted.”
“You are — your life, and nothing else.”
“She believed in nothing. Only her scepticism kept her from being an atheist.”
Existentialism Quotes by Samuel Beckett about Uncertainty, Absurdity, and Persistence
When you encounter Samuel Beckett’s quotes, you see life’s uncertainty, absurdity, and the persistence of human endurance. His words, known as absurdist quotes or short existential quotes, remind you that even repetitive, seemingly meaningless routines carry tiny sparks of significance and are worth living.
“Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes.”
“We always find something to give us the impression we exist.”
“They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.”
“We are all born mad. Some remain so.”
“We wait. We are bored. No, don’t protest, we are bored to death, there’s no denying it.”
“Was I sleeping, while the others suffered? Am I sleeping now?”
“Time has stopped.”
“What are we doing here, that is the question.”
“I can’t go on, I’ll go on.”
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
“We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment.”
“The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops.”
“We’ve lost our rights?”
“At me too someone is looking, of me too someone is saying, he is sleeping, he knows nothing, let him sleep on.”
“Hope deferred maketh the something sick.”
“All my life I’ve compared myself to Christ.”
“One daren’t even laugh any more.”
“Life is a relentless repetition of gestures.”
“One day, we shall die.”
“All my lousy life I’ve crawled about in the mud.”
Existentialism Quotes by Albert Camus About Absurdity, Choice, and Freedom
Camus’ existentialism quotes invite you to face rebellion, absurdity, and personal freedom with courage and bravery. Life can feel meaningless at times, yet he shows that adapting to the absurd can help you carve out your own purpose. From reflective short existential quotes to more existential quotes about meaning, Camus encourages you to persist, make conscious choices, and live authentically, even in a world that gives no guarantees.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.”
“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.”
“The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”
“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”
“Life is the sum of all your choices.”
“I rebel; therefore I exist.”
“Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?”
“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.”
“I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn’t done that. I hadn’t done this thing but I had done another. And so?”
“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.”
“I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn’t.”
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.”
“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.”
“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.”
“And the more I thought about it, the more I dug out my memory things I had overlooked or forgotten. I realized then that a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison. He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored. In a way, it was an advantage.”
Quotes by Simone de Beauvoir About Identity, Responsibility, and Liberation
De Beauvoir’s existentialism quotes reflect on liberation, responsibility, and identity, especially in relation to society and gender. They let you consider how your choices affect your life and promote authentic self-definition. She also shows that even within constraints, you can claim authority, assume autonomy, and actively form a meaningful existence.
“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future.”
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”
“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely.”
“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 be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger.”
“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.”
“I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.”
“Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female—whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male.”
“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.”
“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”
“I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.”
“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.”
“A freedom which is interested only in denying freedom must be denied. 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 you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom. I am oppressed if I am thrown into prison, but not if I am kept from throwing my neighbor into prison.”
“As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.”
“Today, however, we are having a hard time living because we are so bent on outwitting death.”
“The misfortune is that although everyone must come to [death], each experiences the adventure in solitude. We never left Maman during those last days… and yet we were profoundly separated from her.”
“It is not in giving life but in risking life that man is raised above the animal; that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity no to the sex that brings forth but to that which kills.”
“There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning.”
“Every war, every revolution, demands the sacrifice of a generation, of a collectivity, by those who undertake it.”
“The day had been spent in the expectation of these hours, and now they were crumbling away, becoming, in their turn, another period of expectancy…It was a journey without end, leading to an indefinite future, eternally shifting just as she was reaching the present.”
“There are people who are filled with such horror at the idea of a defeat that they keep themselves from ever doing anything. But no one would dream of considering this gloomy passivity as the triumph of freedom.”
Existentialism Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky About Suffering and Morality
You’ll find themes of suffering, morality, and the struggle to find meaning in Dostoevsky’s quotes. His thoughts on guilt, conscience, and ethical choice will compel you to consider how your actions define you. From beautiful short existential quotes to profound existential quotes about meaning, he shows that life’s moral and existential challenges are where personal insight and authentic living emerge.
“I can see the sun, but even if I cannot see the sun, I know that it exists. And to know that the sun is there – that is living.
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”
“The soul is healed by being with children.”
“Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.”
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
“The darker the night, the brighter the stars.”
“Man is a mystery. It needs to be unraveled, and if you spend your whole life unraveling it, don’t say you’ve wasted time.”
“To live without hope is to cease to live.”
“It is better to be with God than without him.”
“Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth.”
“Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel!”
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
“Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering.”
“A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth.”
“Everyone is really responsible to all men for all men and for everything.”
“The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.”
“Man is a creature who can get used to anything.”
“I exist.’ In thousands of agonies — I exist. I’m tormented on the rack — but I exist! Though I sit alone in a pillar — I exist! I see the sun, and if I don’t see the sun, I know it’s there. And there’s a whole life in that, in knowing that the sun is there.”
“Existentialism isn’t so atheistic that it wears itself out showing that God doesn’t exist. Rather, it declares that even if God did exist, that would change nothing.
“I’m a master of speaking silently—all my life I’ve spoken silently and I’ve lived through entire tragedies in silence.”
Across all these writers and philosophers, you’ll notice a pattern persistently: meaning is not handed to you on a plate; it comes to life through you. And that is the heart of existentialism. These existentialism quotes describe the everyday courage of choosing, acting, failing badly, rising, and becoming. If anything, these quotes tell you that freedom is both a gift and a burden, and what you do with it determines the type of life you’ll live.