Q0195
Henri Bergson
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
For a conscious being, to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
Source context
This English passage is associated with Creative Evolution, Ch. 1 (1907), within the tradition of Intuitionism. 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 existence, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Henri Bergson'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: Henri Bergson. (n.d.). For a conscious being, to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0195
MLA: Henri Bergson. “For a conscious being, to exist is to….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0195.
Chicago: Henri Bergson. “For a conscious being, to exist is to….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0195.