To show your true ability is always, in a sense, to surpass the limits of your ability, to go a little beyond them: to dare, to seek, to invent; it is at such a moment that new talents are revealed, discovered, and realized Simone de Beauvoir More Quotes by Simone de Beauvoir More Quotes From Simone de Beauvoir It is perfectly natural for the future woman to feel indignant at the limitations posed upon her by her sex. The real question is not why she should reject them: the problem is rather to understand why she accepts them. Simone de Beauvoir perfectly-natural real sex She was not to look beyond herself for the meaning of her life. Simone de Beauvoir looks Each person has his or her own very particular history and after all, the unconscious is the most secret part of ourselves. Simone de Beauvoir unconscious persons secret Ce n'est gue' re que dans les asiles que les coquettes gardent avec ente" tement une foi entie' re en des regards absents; normalement, elles re clament des te moins. Women fond of dress are hardly ever entirely satisfied not to be seen, except among the insane; usually they want witnesses. Simone de Beauvoir coquette insane dresses To be a woman, if not a defect, is at least a peculiarity. Simone de Beauvoir defects women ifs On ne na|"t pas femme: on le devient. One is not born a woman: one becomes a woman. Simone de Beauvoir femme born If women really did have complete equality with men, society would be completely overturned. Simone de Beauvoir ifs would-be men La femme?sait que quand on la regarde on ne la distingue pas de son apparence: elle est juge e, respecte e, de sire e a' travers sa toilette. Woman?knows that when she is looked at she is not considered apart from her appearance: she is judged, respected, desired, by and through her toilette. Simone de Beauvoir femme appearance son The American woman's inequality with men is proved by her defiant attitude. Simone de Beauvoir inequality women attitude Love and action always imply a failure, but this failure must not keep us from loving and acting. For we have not only to establish what our situation is, we have to choose it in the very heart of its ambiguity. Simone de Beauvoir acting action heart Jealousy is not contemptible, real love has a beak and claws. Simone de Beauvoir real-love beaks real Old age is life's parody. Simone de Beauvoir old-age parody age Si l'on vit assez longtemps, on voit que toute victoire se change un jour en de faite. If you live long enough, you'll find that every victory turns into a defeat. Simone de Beauvoir defeat victory long Given masculine norms, it is clear that women are more likely to be considered crazy - I'm not saying to be crazy. Simone de Beauvoir masculine given crazy Fathers never have exactly the daughters they want because they invent a notion a them that the daughters have to conform to. Simone de Beauvoir daughter expectations father Every war, every revolution, demands the sacrifice of a generation, of a collectivity, by those who undertake it. Simone de Beauvoir generations sacrifice war In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is stupid. Simone de Beauvoir stubborn stupid overcoming When an individual (or a group of individuals) is kept in a situation of inferiority, the fact is that he is inferior. Simone de Beauvoir inferiority feminism doe We always come back to the same vicious circle - an extreme degree of material or intellectual poverty does away with the means of alleviating it. Simone de Beauvoir circles intellectual mean Words have to murder reality before they can hold it captive. Simone de Beauvoir captives murder reality