Simone de Beauvoir — "One is not born a genius, one becomes one."
One is not born a genius, one becomes one.
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More from Simone de Beauvoir
"I know of no other experience more thrilling than to be at the heart of a debate, to be part of the current of ideas."
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."
"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person."
"The greatest challenge in life is to find your own path."
About Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
French existentialist philosopher whose The Second Sex (1949) is the foundational text of modern feminist theory. Closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre (lifetime partner and existentialist co-founder) and Albert Camus (existentialist contemporary in Paris). For an intellectual contrast, see Camille Paglia, American cultural critic and Sexual Personae author — Paglia argues for biological-essentialist roots of gender that Beauvoir's social-construction view — 'one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' — explicitly rejects. The two are the cleanest constructed-vs-essentialist poles in feminist theory.
The standard scholarly entry points to Simone de Beauvoir's work: Toril Moi (Duke, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor) — Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman (1994); Margaret A. Simons (Southern Illinois University, Emerita) — Beauvoir and The Second Sex (1999); Kate Kirkpatrick (Oxford, Regent's Park College) — Becoming Beauvoir: A Life (2019). These are the works graduate seminars cite when teaching Simone de Beauvoir.