--- title: "4 Existentialism Quotes By William Barrett" description: "4 Existentialism quotes by William Barrett. Plus more from William Barrett and more Existentialism sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/william-barrett-14440_acceptance_the-deflation-or-flattening-out-of-value_1559528.png" --- > [“The deflation, or flattening out, of values in Modern art does not necessarily indicate an ethical nihilism. Quite the contrary; in opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/the-deflation-or-flattening-out-of-values-in-modern-art-does-not/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/william-barrett-14440_acceptance_the-deflation-or-flattening-out-of-value_1559528.png) > [“Positivist man is a curious creature who dwells in the tiny island of light composed of what he finds scientifically "meaningful," while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/positivist-man-is-a-curious-creature-who-dwells-in-the-tiny-island-of/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e5/william-barrett-14440_cain-and-abel_positivist-man-is-a-curious-creature-who_2313281.jpg) > [Modern Existentialism... is a total European creation, perhaps the last philosophic legacy of Europe to America or whatever other civilization is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/modern-existentialism-is-a-total-european-creation-perhaps-the-last/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b41/william-barrett-14440_america_modern-existentialism-is-a-total-europea_2716519.png) > [“What emerges from these separate strands of (modern) history is an image of man himself that bears a new, stark, more nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/what-emerges-from-these-separate-strands-of-modern-history-is-an/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/william-barrett-14440_doubt_what-emerges-from-these-separate-strands_3236220.png) ## Other authors on Existentialism - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-albert-camus-10482.jpg) Albert Camus 57 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/albert-camus/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-jean-paul-sartre-220.jpg) Jean-Paul Sartre 48 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/jean-paul-sartre/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-abhijit-naskar-99.jpg) Abhijit Naskar 24 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/abhijit-naskar/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 22 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-simone-de-beauvoir-85532.jpg) Simone de Beauvoir 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/simone-de-beauvoir/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-rollo-may-80838.jpg) Rollo May 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/rollo-may/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-fernando-pessoa-34979.jpg) Fernando Pessoa 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/fernando-pessoa/) - [Bangambiki Habyarimana 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/bangambiki-habyarimana/) - [Søren Kierkegaard 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/s-ren-kierkegaard/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-leo-tolstoy-55.jpg) Leo Tolstoy 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/leo-tolstoy/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-lynch-27713.jpg) David Lynch 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/david-lynch/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-arthur-schopenhauer-15054.jpg) Arthur Schopenhauer 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## More by William Barrett > [“David Hume, in a moment of acute skepticism, felt panicky in the solitude of his study and had to go out and join his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/david-hume-in-a-moment-of-acute-skepticism-felt-panicky-in-the/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [We must be free for the truth; and conversely, to be able to be open toward the truth may be our deepest freedom as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/we-must-be-free-for-the-truth-and-conversely-to-be-able-to-be-open/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [Anxiety is not fear, being afraid of this or that definite object, but the uncanny feeling of being afraid of nothing at all. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/anxiety-is-not-fear-being-afraid-of-this-or-that-definite-object-but/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“When faith is full, it dares to express its anger, for faith is the openness of the whole man toward his God, and therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/when-faith-is-full-it-dares-to-express-its-anger-for-faith-is-the/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [Much like tobacco companies want to keep smokers dependent on their deadly product, the oil industry wants to keep California dependent on oil –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/much-like-tobacco-companies-want-to-keep-smokers-dependent-on-their/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“The more severely he struggles to hold on to the primal face-to-face relation with God, the more tenuous this becomes, until in the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/the-more-severely-he-struggles-to-hold-on-to-the-primal-face-to-face/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“If science could comprehend all phenomena so that eventually in a thoroughly rational society human beings became as predictable as cogs in a machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/if-science-could-comprehend-all-phenomena-so-that-eventually-in-a/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“To be rational is not the same as to be reasonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/to-be-rational-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-reasonable/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“Certainly, we can no longer look upon the canon of Western art - Greco-Roman as revived, extended, and graced by the Renaissance - as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/certainly-we-can-no-longer-look-upon-the-canon-of-western-art-greco/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [Hunger is not the worst feature of unemployment; idleness is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/hunger-is-not-the-worst-feature-of-unemployment-idleness-is/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“We cannot define ourselves without negating the alternatives that we do not become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/we-cannot-define-ourselves-without-negating-the-alternatives-that-we/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“We have to be who we are, however we may seek eventually to transform ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/we-have-to-be-who-we-are-however-we-may-seek-eventually-to-transform/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [The bond that attaches us to the life outside ourselves is the same bond that holds us to our own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/the-bond-that-attaches-us-to-the-life-outside-ourselves-is-the-same/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“The Greek word for “I know,” oida, is the perfect of the verb “to see” and means “I have seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/the-greek-word-for-i-know-oida-is-the-perfect-of-the-verb-to-see-and/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“To the other person, who looks at me from the outside, I seem an object, a thing; my subjectivity with its inner freedom escapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/to-the-other-person-who-looks-at-me-from-the-outside-i-seem-an-object/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/william-barrett/#itemlist", "name": "4 Existentialism Quotes By William Barrett", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The deflation, or flattening out, of values in Modern art does not necessarily indicate an ethical nihilism. 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