# Simone de Beauvoir's most famous quotes

'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' and other lines by Simone de Beauvoir, from The Second Sex to Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter and Force of Circumstance, with the work they come from.

- 73 votes · 12 items
- Jun 18, 2022 · astronome99
- https://even.best/en/l/4654/simone-de-beauvoir-s-most-famous-quotes

## Top 12

1. **To will oneself free is also to will others free.** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947).
2. **The free woman is only just being born.** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — The Second Sex (1949).
3. **One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — The Second Sex (1949), volume II, 'Childhood'.
4. **It is through work that woman has largely bridged the gap that separated her from the male.** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — The Second Sex (1949).
5. **Old age: from a distance you take it for an institution, but it is young people who suddenly find themselves old.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Force of Circumstance (1963).
6. **I got on very well without God.** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958).
7. **I found dying all the more dreadful because I could see no reason for living.** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958).
8. **There was one book in which I thought I recognised my face and my destiny: Little Women, by Louisa Alcott.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958).
9. **There is no such thing as a natural death: nothing that happens to a man is ever natural, since his presence calls the world into question.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — A Very Easy Death (1964), on her mother's death.
10. **Creation is adventure; it is youth and freedom.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Force of Circumstance (1963).
11. **To grow old is to define oneself and to shrink.** (0 · ▲3 ▼3) — Force of Circumstance (1963).
12. **All men are mortal: but for every man his death is an accident.** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — A Very Easy Death (1964).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.