--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a…" description: "\"“Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a representative, declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist there is at least one being who..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/jean-paul-sartre-220_atheism_atheistic-existentialism-of-which-i-am-a_2134996.png" --- # Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a representative… ![“Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a representative, declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it. That being is man…” quote by Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/jean-paul-sartre-220_atheism_atheistic-existentialism-of-which-i-am-a_2134996.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/jean-paul-sartre-220_atheism_atheistic-existentialism-of-which-i-am-a_2134996.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/jean-paul-sartre-220_atheism_atheistic-existentialism-of-which-i-am-a_2134996.png) > ““Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a representative, declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it. That being is man…”” [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence precedes essence; we define ourselves through choices. **In simple terms:** We exist before we define ourselves. Key Takeaway Act responsibly to shape your identity. Themes existentialism freedom identity Mood reflective philosophical Type inspirational thought‑provoking When to use this quote - personal decisions - career paths - artistic expression Key Concepts ontology humanism self‑creation Questions to Reflect On - What choices define you? - Can freedom become a burden? A Different Perspective Existence does not guarantee meaningful purpose without authentic action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Atheistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheistic/) [Beliefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beliefs/) [Consistency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistency/) [Essence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Humanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanism/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Jean-paul-sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jean-paul-sartre-2/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) ## Related quotes > [“He began as a minor imitator of Fitzgerald, wrote a novel in the late twenties which won a prize, became dissatisfied with his work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-n-malzberg/he-began-as-a-minor-imitator-of-fitzgerald-wrote-a-novel-in-the-late/) [Barry N. 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You continually force the truth because you're always looking for something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/you-exaggerate-everything-you-continually-force-the-truth-because-you/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“He takes a few dazed steps, the waiters turn out the lights and he slips into unconsciousness: when this man is lonely he sleeps.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/he-takes-a-few-dazed-steps-the-waiters-turn-out-the-lights-and-he/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“It is an abstract change without object. Am I the one who has changed? (...) I must finally realize that I am subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/it-is-an-abstract-change-without-object-am-i-the-one-who-has-changed/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“My existence began to worry me seriously. Was I not a simple spectre?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/my-existence-began-to-worry-me-seriously-was-i-not-a-simple-spectre/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“When a man gets drunk he gets sentimental. That's what I wanted to avoid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/when-a-man-gets-drunk-he-gets-sentimental-that-s-what-i-wanted-to/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“My passion was dead. For years it had rolled over and submerged me; now I felt empty. But that wasn't the worst: before me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/my-passion-was-dead-for-years-it-had-rolled-over-and-submerged-me-now/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Something has happened to me, I can't doubt it any more. It came as an illness does, not like an ordinary certainty, not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/something-has-happened-to-me-i-can-t-doubt-it-any-more-it-came-as-an/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Perhaps it was a passing moment of madness after all. There is no trace of it any more. My odd feelings of the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/perhaps-it-was-a-passing-moment-of-madness-after-all-there-is-no/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I don't even bother looking for words. It flows in me, more or less quickly. I fix nothing, I let it go. Through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-don-t-even-bother-looking-for-words-it-flows-in-me-more-or-less/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [They shouldnt exist. Their existence goes against nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-black/they-shouldnt-exist-their-existence-goes-against-nature/) [Jacob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-black/) > [“You said you wanted someone to know you. Maybe I just want to have someone know me too. Without you in this world, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-shirvington/you-said-you-wanted-someone-to-know-you-maybe-i-just-want-to-have/) [Jessica Shirvington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-shirvington/) ## More by Jean-Paul Sartre > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“she has suddenly emptied herself of me, and all other consciousness in the world has also emptied itself of me. It seems funny. 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First I lost the memory of her eyes, then the memory of her long body. I kept her smile as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-smiled-first-i-lost-the-memory-of-her-eyes-then-the-memory-of-her/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Life is a useless passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/life-is-a-useless-passion/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The more one is absorbed in fighting evil, the less one is tempted to place the good in question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-more-one-is-absorbed-in-fighting-evil-the-less-one-is-tempted-to/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [This is what I thought: for the most banal even to become an adventure, you must (and this is enough) begin to recount it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-what-i-thought-for-the-most-banal-even-to-become-an-adventure/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I am free: there is absolutely no more reason for living, all the ones I have tried have given way and I can’t imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-am-free-there-is-absolutely-no-more-reason-for-living-all-the-ones/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“If I am not mistaken, if all the signs which have been amassed are precursors of a new overthrow in my life, well then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/if-i-am-not-mistaken-if-all-the-signs-which-have-been-amassed-are/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I want to leave, go to some place where I will be really in my own niche, where I will fit in. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-want-to-leave-go-to-some-place-where-i-will-be-really-in-my-own/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [...Uncalled-for aggression arouses the hatred of the civilian population...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/uncalled-for-aggression-arouses-the-hatred-of-the-civilian-population/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-best-work-is-not-what-is-most-difficult-for-you-it-is-what-you-do/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) [Explore all 728 Jean-Paul Sartre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. 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Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? 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