“My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think… and I can't stop myself from thinking. At this very moment - it's frightful - if I exist, it is because I am horrified at existing. I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire.”
Analysis of Jean-Paul Sartre's Quote
In this quote by Jean-Paul Sartre, he delves into the concept of existence and the self. He expresses the idea that his thoughts define his very being, emphasizing the inseparable link between his existence and his consciousness. Sartre's reflection on the constant nature of thought and the existential dread that comes with it highlights the complex relationship he sees between the self and the act of thinking. Ultimately, he suggests that it is his own mind that both creates and torments him, pulling him into existence from the void he simultaneously fears and desires.
The Constant Struggle of Existence
Jean-Paul Sartre's words highlight the never-ending battle of existence and self-awareness. In today's modern world, with endless distractions and external influences, it is important to remember the power of our own thoughts and the impact they have on our existence. This quote serves as a reminder to take control of our minds and to embrace the responsibility that comes with being conscious beings.
Jean-Paul Sartre on the Nature of Existence
Sartre's quote delves into the existential idea that our thoughts define our existence. He grapples with the idea that the act of thinking itself is what propels us to exist and gives us a sense of horror at the reality of our existence. This profound reflection sheds light on the complex relationship between our consciousness and our being.
Reflection Questions:
Jean-Paul Sartre's quote delves into the idea of existence and the relationship between our thoughts and our sense of being. Here are some questions to reflect on after reading this quote:
- How does Sartre's idea about existence being tied to our thoughts resonate with your own beliefs about existence and purpose?
- Have you ever experienced a sense of dread or horror at your own existence? What triggered those feelings and how did you cope with them?
- Do you believe that our thoughts are what ultimately define us as individuals? Why or why not?
- In what ways do you think our ability to think and reason contributes to our sense of self-awareness and identity?
- How can Sartre's idea about pulling oneself from nothingness be applied to moments in your own life when you have had to confront difficult realities or challenges?
Similar quotes
“I jump up: it would be much better if I could only stop thinking. Thoughts are the dullest things. Duller than flesh. They stretch out and there's no end to them and they leave a funny taste in the mouth. Then there are words, inside the thoughts, unfinished words, a sketchy sentence which constantly returns: "I have to fi. . . I ex. . . Dead . . . M. de Roll is dead . . . I am not ... I ex. . ." It goes, it goes . . . and there's no end to it. It's worse than the rest because I feel responsible and have complicity in it. For example, this sort of painful rumination: I exist, I am the one who keeps it up. I. The body lives by itself once it has begun. But though I am the one who continues it, unrolls it. I exist. How serpentine is this feeling of existing, I unwind it, slowly. ... If I could keep myself from thinking! I try, and succeed: my head seems to fill with smoke . . . and then it starts again: "Smoke . . . not to think . . . don't want to think ... I think I don't want to think. I mustn't think that I don't want to think. Because that's still a thought." Will there never be an end to it?My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think . . . and I can't stop myself from thinking. At this very moment, it's frightful, if I exist, it is because I am horrified at existing. I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire: the hatred, the disgust of existing, there are as many ways to make myself exist, to thrust myself into existence. Thoughts are born at the back of me, like sudden giddiness, I feel them being born behind my head ... if I yield, they're going to come round in front of me, between my eyes, and I always yield, the thought grows and grows and there it is, immense, filling me completely and renewing my existence.”
“I am. I am, I exist, I think, therefore I am; I am because I think, why do I think? I don't want to think any more, I am because I think that I don't want to be, I think that I . . . because . . . ugh!”
“I think: there at the point where thought joins with me I am able to subtract myself from being, without diminishing, without changing, by means of a metamorphosis which saves me from myself, beyond any point of reference from which I might be seized. It is the property of my thought, not to assure me of existence (as all things do, as a stone does), but to assure me of being in nothingness itself, and to invite me not to be, in order te make me feel my marvelous absence. I think, said Thomas, and this visible, inexpressible, nonexistent Thomas I became meant that henceforth I was never there where I was, and there was not even anything mysterious about it. My existence became entirely that of an absent person who, in every act I performed, produced the same act and did not perform it.”
“You are so inconvenient to my existence. That I can't even stand to look at you. I look at myself in the mirror. And you stare back. You are me and I am you. This inconvenient existence. One living, the other dying. You consume my existence. And I let you. 'Cause I love you.”
“I like looking for myself in the whitest of pages. I like finding evidence of myself there, after being told my footprints did not exist on that sand. I think the work of the great white writers is important, but I think it's most important when it's negotiating me and my people, because I am as arrogant and selfish a reader as any other.”