Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

Introspection is always retrospection

People who live in society have learnt how to see themselves, in mirrors, as they appear to their friends. I have no friends: is that why my flesh is so naked?

One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one's death, one dies one's life.

When the rich [and politically powerful] make war, it's the poor [and politically weak] who die.

You see, I'm fond of teasing, it's a second nature with me—and I'm used to teasing myself. Plaguing myself, if you prefer; I don't tease nicely.

What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterward.