Q0129

Jean-Paul Sartre

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Man is nothing other than what he makes of himself.
Thinker Jean-Paul Sartre
School Existentialism
Source Existentialism Is a Humanism
Theme Self
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Existentialism Is a Humanism, within the tradition of Existentialism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Jean-Paul Sartre's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Jean-Paul Sartre. (n.d.). Man is nothing other than what he makes of himself. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0129

MLA: Jean-Paul Sartre. “Man is nothing other than what he makes….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0129.

Chicago: Jean-Paul Sartre. “Man is nothing other than what he makes….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0129.

Same thinker

More from Jean-Paul Sartre

  1. Existence precedes essence.
  2. Man is condemned to be free.
  3. In choosing himself, man chooses all men.
  4. Man is a useless passion.

All quotations by Jean-Paul Sartre

Same theme

More on self

  1. A friend is another self.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. I searched for myself.
  4. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  5. Claim yourself for yourself.

Browse the self theme