The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces upon us the manufacture of the hydrogen bomb. We do not choose our problems, we do not choose our products; we are pushed, we are forced -- by what? By a system which has no purpose and goal transcending it, and which makes man its appendix.

We must make a decision of values.

Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.

We live in a world of things, and our only connection with them is that we know how to manipulate or to consume them.

Man is the only animal who does not feel at home in nature, who can feel evicted from paradise, the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem that he has to solve and from which he cannot escape. He cannot go back to the prehuman state of harmony with nature, and he does not know where he will arrive if he goes forward. Man's existential contradiction results in a state of constant disequilibrium. This disequilibrium distinguishes him from the animal, which lives, as it were, in harmony with nature.

The manual worker does not have to sell his personality. He doesn't have to sell his smile.

All men are in need of help and depend on one another. Human solidarity is the necessary condition for the unfolding of any one individual.