Quotes About Essence

Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a representative, declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it. That being is man....

Tu n'es rien d'autre que ta vie.

Nothingness carries being in its heart.

Existentialism is no mournful delectation but a humanist philosophy of action, effort, combat, and solidarity. Man must create his own essence: it is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines say what this man is before he dies, or what mankind is before it has disappeared.

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.

Now I knew: things are entirely what they appear to be—and behind them . . . there is nothing. This

We have to deal with human reality as a being which is what it is not and which is not what it is.

He raised himself on his hands and looked at Irene's face: the nudity of that feminine body had risen into her face, the body had reabsorbed it, as nature reabsorbs forsaken gardens.

The flesh is the pure contingency of presence.

L'existence précède l'essence

From these few observations we can already conclude that the real is never beautiful. Beauty is a value applicable only to the imaginary and which means the negation of the world in its essential structure.

Oysa sevmiÅŸti o, yaÅŸamak istemiÅŸti ve kendini ölürken görmüÅŸtü; bunlar bir insan?n insan olmas?na yeter.

All these objects... how can I explain? They inconvenienced me; I would have liked the to exist less strongly, more dryly, in a more abstract way, with more reserve.

Nu-mi simt trupul, m-a cucerit puritatea lucrurilor care m? înconjoar?; nimic nu e viu; vântul sufl?, linii drepte alearg? în noapte.

por definición, la existencia no es la necesidad. Existir es estar ahí, simplemente; los existentes aparecen.

If existence really does precede essence, there is no explaining things away by reference to a fixed and given human nature. In other words, there is no determinism, man is free, man is freedom. On the other hand, if God does not exist, we find no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct. So, in the bright realm of values, we have no excuse behind us, nor justification before us. We are alone, with no excuses.

The simplest, most indefinable quality had too much content, in relation to itself, in its heart.

I believe that the true value of life lies in work, diligence and innovation. After all, work is the essence of humanity.

For me, the poetry in a work is that which makes visible the invisible.

The only incontrovertible fact of my work is the importance of life.

Things always work according to their nature.

Content is the meaningful substance of the work.

Every work of art has one indispensable mark ... the center of it is simple, however much the fulfillment may be complicated.

Ultimately we've only got humanity to work with. It's only clay we've got.