--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every existing thing is born without…" description: "\"“Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness and dies by chance. I leaned back and closed my eyes. But the images, for..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/jean-paul-sartre-220_existence_every-existing-thing-is-born-without-rea_3072863.png" --- # Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs… ![“Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness and dies by chance. I leaned back and closed my eyes. But the images, forewarned, immediately leaped up and filled my closed eyes with existences: existence is a fullness which man can never abandon. Strange” quote by Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/jean-paul-sartre-220_existence_every-existing-thing-is-born-without-rea_3072863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/jean-paul-sartre-220_existence_every-existing-thing-is-born-without-rea_3072863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/jean-paul-sartre-220_existence_every-existing-thing-is-born-without-rea_3072863.png) > ““Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness and dies by chance. I leaned back and closed my eyes. But the images, forewarned, immediately leaped up and filled my closed eyes with existences: existence is a fullness which man can never abandon. Strange”” [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. Existence is arbitrary, fleeting, and filled with images that overwhelm human attempts to escape its fullness. **In simple terms:** Life is random and full of images we cannot avoid. Key Takeaway Accept life's randomness and cherish the present. Themes existentialism absurdity human condition perception Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - contemplating mortality - artistic creation - philosophical writing - personal reflection Key Concepts nihilism subjectivity existential dread Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning amid randomness? - What images dominate your thoughts? A Different Perspective The view may ignore agency and the possibility of meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [I think in art, but especially in films, people are trying to confirm their own existences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/i-think-in-art-but-especially-in-films-people-are-trying-to-confirm/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [Like Leibniz's possible worlds, most men are only equally entitled pretenders to existence. There are few existences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/like-leibniz-s-possible-worlds-most-men-are-only-equally-entitled/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [“The successive existences in a series of rebirths are not like the pearls in a pearl necklace, held together by a string, the “soul,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/the-successive-existences-in-a-series-of-rebirths-are-not-like-the/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [“Many of us, I suppose, see our existences not as lives, but as life-holders, zarfs, waiting for the job, the person, the event to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tibor-fischer/many-of-us-i-suppose-see-our-existences-not-as-lives-but-as-life/) [Tibor Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tibor-fischer/) > [“MAGNITUDE of EXISTENCE U are a dot A point A speck An image A stillness A shadow A centrifugal force Turning into itself Emanating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-chumacero/magnitude-of-existence-u-are-a-dot-a-point-a-speck-an-image-a/) Olivia Chumacero > [“We were alone here. We had always been alone here. When we died and rid ourselves of our meaningless existences, we would die alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-sheehan/we-were-alone-here-we-had-always-been-alone-here-when-we-died-and-rid/) [Madeline Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-sheehan/) > [A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-novel-is-balanced-between-a-few-true-impressions-and-the-multitude-2/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have never felt any rest in sleep. For a few seconds I am numbed, then a new life begins, freed from the conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/i-have-never-felt-any-rest-in-sleep-for-a-few-seconds-i-am-numbed/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [Let us investigate more closely this property common to animal and plant, this power of producing its likeness, this chain of successive existences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/let-us-investigate-more-closely-this-property-common-to-animal-and/) [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/) > [Humans feel at home in a world of things, whose essences and laws it can grasp and define in terms of concepts; but shy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/humans-feel-at-home-in-a-world-of-things-whose-essences-and-laws-it/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [I think the key to writing the truth of our existences, so much of this is being incubated online, is examining the conflicts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/i-think-the-key-to-writing-the-truth-of-our-existences-so-much-of/) [Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/) > [Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/every-existing-thing-is-born-without-reason-prolongs-itself-out-of/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [When a man feels fear without reason, you call him to the attention of a psychiatrist; you are not so careful to protect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/when-a-man-feels-fear-without-reason-you-call-him-to-the-attention-of/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Passion, that thing of beauty, that flowering without roots, has to be born, live and die without reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgette-leblanc/passion-that-thing-of-beauty-that-flowering-without-roots-has-to-be/) [Georgette Leblanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgette-leblanc/) > [These tears I'm wailing, I spill not without reason. Remove them, my dearest love. Take me to the place I've been dreaming of, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/these-tears-i-m-wailing-i-spill-not-without-reason-remove-them-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-has-suddenly-emptied-herself-of-me-and-all-other-consciousness-in/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [ \[Stéphane Mallarmé\] theory of the hermetic is a mistake, but he can be only difficult to read when he has difficult things to say. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/st-phane-mallarm-theory-of-the-hermetic-is-a-mistake-but-he-can-be/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I can always choose, but I ought to know that if I do not choose, I am still choosing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-can-always-choose-but-i-ought-to-know-that-if-i-do-not-choose-i-am/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/when-the-rich-wage-war-it-s-the-poor-who-die/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“She smiled. 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 Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [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/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness and dies by chance. I leaned back and closed my eyes. But the images, forewarned, immediately leaped up and filled my closed eyes with existences: existence is a fullness which man can never abandon. 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