I recently finished reading the book What is Existentialism by Simone de Beauvoir. First of all, the book isn’t structured like a story with a central character or plot. Instead, it’s a collection of essays or short philosophical reflections on various existential themes like devotion, action, and more.

The writing is quite dense and at times feels unnecessarily convoluted. I had to read the book twice to really make sense of it.

What truly stands out are the ideas placed subtly throughout the text that leave a lasting impact and make you reflect on life :) If you enjoy deep thinking, you’ll absolutely love it. Some of the excerpts I particularly liked are:

There is no doubt why so much importance is attached to the last wish of a dying man … it is the one in which the dying man has grasped his whole life again

… [by completing the last wish] prolongs his last instant by maintaining its privilege

… [but once you look from the outside] the last instant becomes instant among others … then the dead person is really dead.

whenever the project [purpose] stops, the future also stops

our freedoms support each other like the stones in an arch, but in an arch with no pillars. Humanity is entirely suspended in a void that it creates itself by its reflections on its plentitude.

In denying individuality, they also deny failure

It’s a shame that jailor cannot also be a comrade, but it would be even more of a shame for the prisoner never to have any comrades again.

men must love it, want it, prolong it.

Once I have surpassed my own goals, my actions will fall back upon themselves, inert and useless, if they have not been carried off towards a new future by new projects

All the unhappiness of men arises from a single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber

and the best one

Paradise is rest.

You’ll need to do a fair amount of heavy lifting while reading this book, so be prepared. Expect to read it more than once. But once you grasp the deeper meaning, you’ll absolutely love it.