--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am simultaneously and contradictorily…" description: "\"I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and unhappy: 'to succeed' or 'to fail' have for me only ephemeral, contingent meanings (this does no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg" --- # I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and… ![“I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and unhappy: 'to succeed' or 'to fail' have for me only ephemeral, contingent meanings (this does not stop my desires and sorrows from being violent ones); what impels me, secretly and obstinately, is not tactical: I accept and I affirm…” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg) > “I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and unhappy: 'to succeed' or 'to fail' have for me only ephemeral, contingent meanings (this does not stop my desires and sorrows from being violent ones); what impels me, secretly and obstinately, is not tactical: I accept and I affirm, irrespective of the true and the false, of success and failure; I am withdrawn from all finality, I live according to chance...” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker embraces ambivalence, seeing success and failure as fleeting, and chooses to act beyond binary judgments, living by chance. **In simple terms:** Accept uncertainty and act beyond success/failure. Key Takeaway Live beyond binary judgments. Themes ambiguity existentialism determinism acceptance chance Mood reflective philosophical Type existential thought‑provoking When to use this quote - career decisions - creative projects - personal growth - risk taking Key Concepts Phenomenology subjectivity existential choice Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning without fixed outcomes? - What role does chance play in your choices? A Different Perspective May ignore practical consequences of indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ephemeral/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Finality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finality/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success and failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-and-failure/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) ## Related quotes > [I want color and form to have contradictorily functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/i-want-color-and-form-to-have-contradictorily-functions/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [“I ask you again / You who watch / How can there ever be any ending but this? First silence / Then darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-power/i-ask-you-again-you-who-watch-how-can-there-ever-be-any-ending-but/) Ben Power > [There is never finality in the display terminal's screen, but an irresponsible whimsicality, as words, sentences, and paragraphs are negated at the touch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-is-never-finality-in-the-display-terminal-s-screen-but-an/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [“There is no moment in which we say good-bye, there is no finality as he slips into peacefulness, he simply leaves us, and though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-o-donnell/there-is-no-moment-in-which-we-say-good-bye-there-is-no-finality-as/) [Lisa O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-o-donnell/) > [Imagine how different a world might be if more leaders took time to ponder the finality of death before racing off to war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/imagine-how-different-a-world-might-be-if-more-leaders-took-time-to/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. 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If we say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/the-finality-of-christs-redemption-for-us-is-intimately-tied-to-the/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [“Impossible to say why childhood joy ends with such finality in so many things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-franklin/impossible-to-say-why-childhood-joy-ends-with-such-finality-in-so/) [Dave Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-franklin/) > ['Death with dignity' is our society's expression of the universal yearning to achieve a graceful triumph over the stark and often repugnant finality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/death-with-dignity-is-our-society-s-expression-of-the-universal/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [Just — just to be clear,” he said. “You want to leave Tonks at her parents’ house and come away with us?” “She’ll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-just-to-be-clear-he-said-you-want-to-leave-tonks-at-her-parents/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Unless death is made a lesson for the living, the life lived is wasted. Why should life come into existence only to be destroyed?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/unless-death-is-made-a-lesson-for-the-living-the-life-lived-is-wasted/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is the God Arunachala. Meditating on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/that-which-rises-and-sinks-is-made-up-of-what-it-rises-from-the/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-nearer-a-conception-comes-towards-finality-the-nearer-does-the/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Science is not a system of certain, or -established, statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances towards a state of finality... And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Accepting 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/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. 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I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and unhappy: 'to succeed' or 'to fail' have for me only ephemeral, contingent meanings (this does not stop my desires and sorrows from being violent ones); what impels me, secretly and obstinately, is not tactical: I accept and I affirm, irrespective of the true and the false, of success and failure; I am withdrawn from all finality, I live according to chance...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roland Barthes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily-both-happy-and-unhappy-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accepting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily-both-happy-and-unhappy-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/roland-barthes-1062_accepting_i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily_1352590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am simultaneously and contradictorily both happy and unhappy: 'to succeed' or 'to fail' have for me only…” — Roland Barthes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Roland Barthes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am simultaneously and contradictorily both...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily-both-happy-and-unhappy-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-am-simultaneously-and-contradictorily-both-happy-and-unhappy-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```